.1'.. . . 











LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



LB"irn> 

Chap. Copyright No... 

Shelt._H._XL 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



SEP 8 1898 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/studyofchildOOhoga 




SPONTANEOUS EFFORTS WITH COLORS, 1894 TO 1898. 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 



•mho, </ 

LOUISE E. HOGAN 



^C^Auua) 



ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER 500 ORIGINAL DRAWINGS 
BY THE CHILD 




NEW YOEK AND LONDON 

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
1898 



I 3628 




WO COPIES RECEIVED. 



Copyright, f898, by Harper & Brothers. 

*4W right* reserved. 






PKEFACE 



The interest awakened in America and Europe by 
the child-study movement, the fascination that lies in 
the sayings and the doings of children, and especially 
the expressed desire of psychologists, physicians, and 
teachers for opportunity to study individual child 
records, both normal and abnormal, have led to the 
preparation of this book, with the hope of entertain- 
ing the general reader and of stimulating interest in 
practical methods for mental, moral, and physical de- 
velopment of the child in the nursery. 

Professor Ladd, of Yale, says in a recent work {Out- 
lines of Descriptive Psychology), that of six sources 
of psychology, one is " observation of the mental 
processes of infants and children. ... as necessary 
to a better analysis of the mature mental processes 
of man and to the detection of hitherto concealed 
factors within them." Such understanding, he says, 
is indispensable to the understanding of human men- 
tal life as being, what it undoubtedly is, a develop- 
ment. 

Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, whose stand for the principles of 
humanity in education is known throughout the world, 
declared boyhood to be an inferior state, a dangerous 



PREFACE 

time, when temptation is great and resistance exceed- 
ingly small ; and he said that the change from boyhood 
to manhood should be hastened, for the growth of his 
character and for the development of the love of un- 
selfishness and fear of God. More in keeping, how- 
ever, with accepted educational theories of to-day, John 
Corbin says, in this connection, in his study of School- 
boy Life in England that since Arnold's day many 
experiments have been made in bringing up boys, and 
many thoughtful men have written on the subject, and 
in consequence we are more likely to respect the state 
of bo}rhood and sympathize with it, to regard it as 
necessary and beautiful rather than dangerous, and to 
believe that the more fully a boy learns to be a boy, 
the more thoroughly he will be a man when the time 
comes. He adds, forcibly: "In its way, boyhood is as 
little to be avoided as old age. Both were ordained by 
the Power that no one has ever understood ; they are 
equally necessary for the fulness of life, and equally 
beautiful." 

" The history of the child Harold is given exactly as 
it was originally written, with but few additional ex- 
planatory remarks concerning the course taken to pro- 
duce the results recorded. This plan has been followed 
as most likely to attract the attention of the general 
reader whose aid in furnishing child-diaries is asked 
for by scientists ; yet the record, though unclassified, 
will be of no less value to the student. As the re- 
sults are obvious, the reader may draw his own con- 
clusions. 

A portion of the record and the introductory chapter 
were sent to Dr. Preyer, and annotations to the manu- 
script, which are duly noted, were received in reply, 



PREFACE 

with several letters of singular charm, in one of which 
he says : 

" Since fifteen 37-ears, when the first German edition of 
my book on The Mind of the Infant was published, I 
have wished that a lady, after having studied the work 
done, would let a child develop itself naturally and 
without continually interfering with mother - nature. 
I actually brought my boy up in this way, and he is 
always happy. The boy you have observed seems to 
have been educated in a similar way. I feel nearly sure 
we are sailing carefully, but with energy, in exactly the 
same direction. I think the wish I mentioned will soon 
be fulfilled by you to my heart's content. Mind you do 
not go too deep into psychology — controversies would 
spoil the effect of your observations, which in many cases 
may serve as a practical guide, without any commentary. 
When some years ago I was often asked to write a popu- 
lar nursery psychology with my pedagogical rules, I 
always answered that such a manual must be written 
by a mother who has not intrusted her baby to nurses, 
but brought it up and thoroughly studied it lov- 
ingly herself, and I added that I would help any lady 
who would undertake the lengthy but very pleasant 
work." 

The recent and much lamented death of Dr. Preyer 
adds special significance to these words, which illus- 
trate so clearly the comprehensive character of the 
work to which his life was given. 

While the gradual development of an infant during 
its first year may be of great interest to both scientist 
and mother, the quaint and fanciful tangents of a child's 
self - activity during the years following closely upon 
infancy are the most absorbing to the general reader, 



PREFACE 

and for this reason the following selections have been 
made as illustrative of various stages of unconscious 
growth, and as not altogether of simply scientific 
interest. 

Louise E. Hog an. 
New York, June, 1898. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

Reasons for Child-Study in the Home 1 

CHAPTER I 
Fragmentary First- Year Notes 15 

CHAPTER II 

Second Year — Covering Development of Language, and, Inci- 
dentally, the Cultivation of Obedience and Trust 22 

CHAPTER III 

Third Year — Language and Other Incidental Development Con- 
tinued 76 

CHAPTER IV 

Fourth Year — Record of Spontaneous Development After the 
Child was Three Years Old, with Selections of Drawings and 
Cuttings, all Mental Pictures, Done as a Result of Self- 
Activity, and Accompanied by the Child's Explanations 140 

CHAPTER V 

Fifth Year — Record Continued — Nature Stories — Training 
Butterflies and White Mice — The Child's First Effort at 
Relating a Story 149 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

Sixth. Year — Number-Work — Composition— Fancy — The Story 
of Kitty — The Adventures of a Lady-Bug 167 

CHAPTER VII 

Seventh Year — Learning German, Writing, and Spelling through 
Play — A Bedtime Question Talk — Comparison Questions and 
Answers — The Child's Song to His Colors — Two Stories Told 
by the Child 181 

CHAPTER VIII 

Eighth Year — Efforts at Arithmetic — "A Story all Epsidedown" 
and "A Wonderful Dream" Told by the Child — Memor}*- 
Work — Conception of Fractions — Development in Drawing 
and Designing 215 



ILLUSTKATIONS 



SPONTANEOUS EFFORTS WITH COLORS, 1894 TO 1898. . Frontispiece 

NO DATE DRAWINGS Facing p. 94 

NO DATE DRAWINGS " 108 

NO DATE DRAWINGS " 120 

1892 AND 1893 DRAWINGS AND CUTTINGS— THE CHILD'S 

EARLIEST EFFORTS " 132 

1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD " 134 

1893 AND 1894 DRAWINGS " 136 

1894 CUTTINGS " 138 

1893 DRAWINGS — ENGINES " 140 

1893 DRAWINGS — BOATS, TROLLEYS, ETC " 142 

1893 DRAWINGS — ENGINES — THREE YEARS OLD ... " 144 

1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD " 144 

1893 DRAWINGS " 146 

1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD " 148 

1894 CUTTINGS AND 1893 AND 1894 PRINTED LETTER 

WORK " 150 

1894 CUTTINGS— FOUR YEARS OLD " 150 

1894 CUTTINGS OF ENGINES " 152 

1894 ENGINE AND CAR CUTTINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD . " 152 

1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 154 

1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 154 

1894 DRAWINGS " 156 

1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 156 

1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD . , " 158 

1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 158 

DINNER FOR TWO " 160 

THE BUTTERFLY'S BATH " 162 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



TriE BUTTERFLY ON THE CURTAIN 

1895 AND 1896 DRAWINGS 

1895 DRAWINGS 

1895 ENGINE DRAWINGS— FIVE YEARS OLD .... 

1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 BOAT DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1895 CUTTINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

1896 DRAWINGS 

1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

1896 DRAWINGS 

GRADED EFFORT AT WRITING — COMPOSITION AND 

EARLY EFFORTS AT NUMBERS 

1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD . . . 

1896 CUTTINGS— SIX YEARS OLD 

EARLY CUTTINGS AND WRITINGS 

1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS 

A LESSON IN ADDITION 

A LESSON AND ITS RESULT : EARLY ATTEMPTS AT SUB- 
TRACTION, DIVISION, AND MULTIPLICATION . . . 

1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN YEARS OLD 

1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN YEARS OLD 

1897 DRAWINGS 

1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN YEARS OLD 

1897 AND 1898 DRAWINGS 



Facing p. 164 
16G 
168 
170 
172 
172 
174 
174 
176 
176 
178 
180 
182 
184 
186 
188 
190 

192 
196 
200 
204 
208 
212 
Page 215 

216 

Facing p. 216 

216 

218 
218 
218 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 



INTKODUCTION 
REASONS FOR CHILD -STUDY IN THE HOME 

Peofessoe Compayee says : " If childhood is the cradle 
of humanity, the study of childhood is the natural and 
necessary introduction to all future psychology." 

Lowell says : " We were designed in the cradle, per- 
haps earlier, and it is in finding out this design and 
shaping ourselves to it that our years are spent wisely. 
It is the vain endeavor to make ourselves what we are 
not that has strewn history with so many broken pur- 
poses and lives left in the rough." 

Dr. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, 
says parents and teachers are directly concerned with 
the aggregation of facts of value gathered by child- 
students, and from which is being evolved a new edu- 
cation, which deals in explanations which are the key- 
note to infant development. 

Perez says, in The First Three Years of Childhood: 

" The business of psychological educators is much more 

concerned with the habits that children may acquire, and 

with their wills, which are also developed by habitual 

a 1 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

practice, than with the development of their moral 
conscience. The latter is the blossom which will be 
followed by fruit, but the former are the roots and 
branches." 

Professor Sully says in his introduction to this work 
that the cardinal principle of modern educational the- 
ory is that systematic training should watch the spon- 
taneous movements of the child's mind and adapt its 
processes to these. It is in the first three or four years 
of life that we have the key to the emotional and moral 
nature of the young. He says, " if the study be deferred 
to school-life, it will never be full or exact. The arti- 
ficial character of even the brightest school surroundings 
offers too serious an obstacle to the free play of childish 
likings." He says, further, that nothing, perhaps, has 
been more misunderstood than childhood; that few 
have the disposition to seriously endeavor to think 
themselves into the situation and circumstances of the 
child, casting aside their own adult habits of mind and 
trying to become themselves for the moment as little 
children, and that the man to whom children will reveal 
themselves is not he who is wont to look on them as a 
nuisance or a bore, but he who finds them an amuse- 
ment and a delight, who likes nothing better than to 
cast aside now and again the heavy armor of serious 
business and indulge in a good childish romp. He sug- 
gests the father as an observer, because his masculine 
intelligence will be less exposed to the risk of taking too 
sentimental and eulogistic a view of the baby mind ; but 
he says the father cannot, however, hope to accomplish 
the task alone. His restricted leisure compels him to 
call in the mother as collaborates, and " the mother's 
enthusiasm and patient, brooding watchfulness are neecl- 

2 



CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 

ed quite as much as the father's keen, analytic vision. 
The mother should note under the guidance of the 
father, he taking due care to test and verify. In this 
way we may look for something like a complete record 
of infant life." 

In his recent work, Studies of Childhood, he says 
that the greatest desideratum to-day for practical re- 
sults in child-study is the study of individual children 
as they may be approached in the nursery; that en- 
vironment, heredity, and methods of education should 
all be noted in relation to the child in question if the 
record is to be of the greatest value. In view of the 
fact that children as well as their environments differ 
very widely, he says we need to know much more 
about these variations ; that there is no substitute for 
the careful, methodical, study of the individual child, 
and that the co-operation of the mother is indispensable, 
as the knowledge of others never equals that of the 
mother. He predicts that women will become valuable 
laborers in this new field of investigation if they will 
only acquire a genuine scientific interest in babyhood 
and a fair amount of scientific training. He indicates 
the necessity of careful training in observation, because 
a child is very quick to see whether he is being ob- 
served, and as soon as he suspects that you are specially 
interested in his talk he is apt to try to produce an 
effect. This wish to say something startling or won- 
derful will, it is obvious, detract from the value of the 
utterance. 

Stanley Hall also points out that child-study is espe- 
cially the woman's province of work, that all teaching, 
especially of the very young, must alwaj^s be a work of 
love to be really effective, and that child-study should 

3 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

be so directed as to instruct concerning child-nature and 
awaken child-love. He also says the love of childhood 
and youth has always been one of the strongest in- 
centives to high thoughts and noble deeds, and, quite 
apart from its results, the study of children is good in 
itself, enriches parenthood, and brings the adult and the 
child nearer together. 

To sura up authorities, the late Dr. Preyer, whose 
work in child-study is known all over the world, says, in 
Infant Mind: " But, after all, the observation in mental 
development in the earliest years naturally falls to the 
mother more than to any other person ; that other per- 
sons also, teachers, both male and female, fathers, older 
brothers and sisters, are to be induced to consider the 
importance of the facts in this field, which has, indeed, 
been lying open for hundreds of years, but has been 
little trodden, and is therefore a new field." 

He continues : " Although the little child shows him- 
self to the observer always without the least dissimula- 
tion, still there is great danger with the anthropomor- 
phic tendency of most people in their way of looking at 
things, that more will be attributed to the child than 
actually belongs to him." He says, " new comprehen- 
sive diaries concerning the actions of children are 
urgently to be desired, and they should contain noth- 
ing but well-established facts, no hypotheses, and no 
repetition of the statements of others." 

Following such suggestions as these, I began seven 
years ago to observe systematically a healthy, happy, 
and intelligent child, endeavoring to keep constantly in 
view the fact that he was but one of many, and taking 
no liberty of expression whatever beyond recording facts. 
The record was taken at intervals under exceptionally 

4 



CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 

favorable circumstances, for lie was trained under what 
might be called the Pestalozzian principle of letting alone, 
with unconscious supervision in a carefully guarded en- 
vironment which supplied a great number of centres of 
interest that were full of indirect suggestion. Preyer 
says in one of his works : " The more numerous the sounds 
of interest imitated, the quicker the child will learn to 
talk ;" he noted later, however, in one of the letters, be- 
fore mentioned, " but their then mental development 
may thus be disturbed." It was for fear of such disturb- 
ance that no formal teaching of any kind was allowed 
until the end of the sixth year, but all questions were 
carefully answered, and effort was made to see that the 
answers were clearly understood. Servants were in- 
structed to refer the child to his parents for answers to 
all questions they did not themselves comprehend, and 
sufficient supervision was given to see that these direc- 
tions were followed. All baby-talk was forbidden, and 
great care was taken to enunciate distinctly. Surround- 
ings were carefully planned to meet growing needs from 
the moment he began to notice things. The record is 
therefore one of spontaneous development of self-activ- 
ity produced as a result : (1) of suggestion, based upon a 
carefully considered environment ; (2) of accurate and 
sympathetic explanation, given only when asked for; and 
(3) of carefully graded steps that were taken one at a 
time. (Dr. Preyer's annotation here was " Quite true.") 
Edward Gardiner Howe says : " Restraint upon the part 
of the parent or teacher is a necessity to prevent giving 
more information than can be absorbed." He also 
says : " There is no subject so profound but its central 
truth can be taught to very small children, and a child 
can be led to any height if the steps are made short 

5 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

enough." (Dr. Preyer here added, " This is not the 
case.") 

The results recorded illustrate, however, very clearly 
the practicability of Froebel's theory of inducing and 
guiding in the nursery a self-activity which eventually 
will develop power, cultivate observation and memory, 
produce accuracy, teach a child to think — in short, de- 
velop every faculty a child may possess, and enable it to 
educate itself easily by giving it a technic, so to speak, 
and a desire for study which will continue through a 
lifetime if it is not dulled by routine method during 
the period following nursery life, after which time only 
must instruction become formal. This method of train- 
ing also affords the parent an opportunity of discovering 
inherent weaknesses and removing them by encouraging 
and sympathetic influences ; for, as Mrs. Felix Adler 
sympathetically says : " In the case of children, they are 
sure to distress and discourage us, but we must not make 
the mistake of overlooking the light parts that balance 
the dark shadows. We must expect to find inconsisten- 
cies, curious incongruities, paradoxes in the character. 
If we study both good and evil traits, the good ones will 
enable us to eradicate the evil ones." It is a well-estab- 
lished fact that a child learns through playing and by 
having opportunity to let nature assert itself spontane- 
ously and without restraint, under watchful supervision 
— of which, however, it must be unconscious — yet how 
commonly we see nurses, and even parents, endeavoring 
to attract the attention of an infant, perhaps with the 
idea of amusing, when most probably its only require- 
ment at the time is to he let alone to do what pleases it. 
(Dr. Preyer here added " Yes," and underscored the 
phrase). Instead of being quietly placed where the child 

6 



CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 

may reach it, a ball will be shaken to and fro, or up and 
down so rapidly that the babe's eyes are unable to fol- 
low it ; hands will be clapped so loud that the child be- 
comes frightened; the nurse will keep up an eternal 
jogging on the knee of the body of the child, with some 
curious notion of the necessity for constant movement 
as a pacifier. Some persons go so far even as to toss 
baby up and down as if he were a ball, while the poor 
little atom of humanity wants only to be let alone to 
find out for himself what all the curious things mean 
with which he finds himself surrounded. If the persons 
whose business it is to take care of infants would, instead 
of amusing themselves at the expense of the child's 
nerves, practise sufficient self-restraint to watch the 
efforts of a four-months' -old child when it is trying to 
touch a ball or any object within its reach and line of 
vision, as the one observed did when three and one-half 
months' old, the immense possibility would be evident at 
once of training a child to self-entertainment by simply 
letting him alone to find out about things and do for 
himself. (Dr. Freyer wrote in this connection : " Yes, 
this is quite true. Need not be verified. Even the 
shaking ot the cradle, of the baby in the nurse's arms, I 
strictly forbid, on account of the disturbance of the 
blood circulation of the brain.") A study of the record 
of the child observed should be sufficient to convince 
the most incredulous mother of the fact that she may 
save herself much care and worry and do much better 
for her child by shaping with a compelling hand the en- 
vironment of her nursery from the very beginning of its 
life, for it is at this time that a correct habit of body 
may be laid with very little effort, and it is also the 
time when many a child's life develops an impulse in 

7 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

the opposite direction difficult to overcome in later 
years. 

If during the first six months a regular regime has 
been established in regard to hours of feeding, sleep, 
bathing, and letting alone, the mother will, by this time, 
have leisure to consider the needs of the awakening 
mind. Regularity in nursery routine, with its result 
showing in the serenity of the child, will give opportu- 
nity for study as to how best to meet the new require- 
ments, and also to. take records of daily development for 
reference as to future guidance and study. Compayre 
says the better the child's health and the better he is 
fed, the more activity he has to dispense and the more 
active will be his motor faculty ; and inasmuch as 
physical care favors intellectual growth from the very 
first, that mothers shall provide intelligently for physical 
needs and beware of restraining this motor faculty, if it 
is not too great. JSTervous children must be restrained, 
Preyer added. This restraint, however, must be wisely 
exercised, or not at all. 

Children are proverbially good when they are busy, 
but constant diversion is necessary to keep them so, 
because the child-mind is not capable of fixed attention 
for more than a few minutes at a time. Herein lies the 
value of the principle of suggestion in environment. It 
is possible and very easy for a mother who has any com- 
prehension of Froebel's inner meaning to prepare each 
day in a very few minutes, after her child has gone to 
sleep, a suggestive environment that will relieve her 
almost entirely during the following hours of airy care 
be} T ond the physical, and even this may, if necessary, 
under proper direction and supervision, be delegated to 
a faithful servant. It is in the constant supervision 

8 



CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 

with wise and gentle guidance that the necessary work 
for the mother lies, not in the actual labor involved, 
which may be regulated according to circumstances. 

The usual attitude of the parent not versed in child- 
study is sceptical and antagonistic to reform. A very 
frequent excuse offered by such a parent for the careless 
training of children, and the consequent arrest of their 
physical, mental, and moral development, is that there 
are too many other duties pressing upon them to al- 
low of sufficient attention to these things. I have fre- 
quently heard mothers and teachers say, in a tone of 
scepticism, that child-study is productive of no practical 
good ; that children have done well enough heretofore, 
and that they will do so again. One of the greatest 
results to be hoped from child -study is to show just 
such parents and teachers how much easier it is to de- 
velop good than evil in all children, and that letting 
"well enough" alone will never yield the greatest de- 
velopment of character, the true aim of education. The 
practical application of child-study must begin in the nur- 
sery and continue through the kindergarten and prima- 
ry school, which must all be in touch one with the other. 

Susan Blow says, pertinently, that notwithstanding 
all that has been said and written about conforming to 
the different stages of natural development, we still 
make knowledge an idol, and continue to fill the 
child's mind with foreign material, under the gratui- 
tous assumption that at a later age he will be able, 
through some magic transubstantiation, to make it a 
vital part of his own thought. But glaring as are our 
sins of commission, they pale before our sins of omis- 
sion, for while we are forcing upon the child's mind 
knowledge which has no roots in his experience, or call- 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

ing upon him to exercise still dormant powers, we refuse 
any aid to his spontaneous struggle to do and learn and 
be that which his stage of development demands. Thus 
we kill the creative activity, the absence of which in 
later life we deplore and endeavor again to recreate. 
It is true that it is the exceptional mother and teacher 
to-day who take up this question in any but a superficial 
manner, but it is not too much to hope that the day will 
come, and that very soon, when the practical results of 
the science of child-study will have permeated every home 
of intelligence, kindergarten, and school, and when moth- 
er, nurse, hindergartner, and primary -school teacher will 
work hand in hand, without stepping over the line for- 
bidden for normal physical development. From a foun- 
dation like this should arise a nation of people possessing 
such marked individuality and productive capability as 
would conclusively demonstrate the value of the work 
that has been done by men like Comenius, Pestalozzi, 
Rousseau, Froebel, Herbart, Preyer, and Horace Mann, 
and is now being done by Sully, Harris, Baldwin, Stan- 
ley Hall, and many others. 

A great impetus has ^already been given by these 
psychologists to those young parents, kindergartners, 
and primary-school teachers who have been alive to the 
true meaning of child - study ; and Froebel's love for 
children and his desire for their happiness is understood 
more clearly to-day than ever before. Much of the 
physical restraint formerly in vogue among kinder- 
gartners and teachers, and the too close attention to 
method and the letter of his philosophy instead of the 
spirit, have disappeared, and the freedom of spontaneous 
play and self-activity have taken their place, to the mani- 
fest improvement of the child. 

10 



CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 

"When we remember that Froebel did not expect his 
philosophy to be thoroughly understood for two hun- 
dred years, we can easily see how, after fifty years of 
imperfect elucidation, there still remains a great work 
for the kindergartner, and a still greater one for the 
mother in the nursery, to produce the necessary adjust- 
ment to educational methods which is required for spon- 
taneous development. 

Sympathy and suggestion must go hand in hand with 
trained method — one is as necessary as the other — but 
the mother's work must come first, for she has the first 
opportunity. 

She can prepare herself for this work by studying the 
philosophy of Froebel — not necessarily his methods — 
and then, by putting his principles into practice, she 
will find that the child's development in the nursery 
will be a sympathetic reflection of her own, and will 
unconsciously follow her own plan of study, which 
should lead directly into the hands of the kindergart- 
ner. It is evident to the careful observer of children 
in kindergartens and the primary schools that to-day 
parents need direct teaching more than the child, to be 
given in such a way as to influence children in the 
nursery before the most impressionable period of their 
lives has been passed. " This is very true," wrote Dr. 
Preyer, who lamented, with reason, in Infant Mind, 
that in cultivated families the children should be left 
alone so much with uneducated nurses, maids, bonnes, 
a,nd that no counterpoise, as a rule, is supplied by a close 
personal contact with the child of the educated parents ; 
that the fathers have other claims upon them ; the 
mothers, in too many cases, are hindered by so-called 
" duties " of society or by needless journeys. He says, 

11 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

forcibly, that when a child grows up from the beginning 
under the influence of the suggestions of cultivated 
people, he must of necessity take with him into the 
period in which the nursery is left behind forever a 
considerably less number of naughty ways and a great 
many more excellences, with the natural result of 
being better fitted for progress than if undesirable 
ways must be first forgotten, and excellences, such as 
obedience, be bred in him after leaving the nursery. 
He says the direction of attention through suggestion 
never fails when used systematically. It is evident, 
therefore, that the mother who will interest herself 
in child -study and its results must find, by following 
this course of sympathetic supervision and intelligent 
suggestion, that she can easily and unobtrusively pre- 
pare her child for satisfactory work in both kinder- 
garten and primary school. The aid of a trained kin- 
dergartner of inspiring personality, or of at least a 
refined and educated nursery-maid, may be secured, if 
possible, very early in the life of a child. One, how- 
ever, should be selected who has learned the value of 
repose in handling children, and who can subordinate 
method as a means for the development of mental and 
moral growth. Undoubtedly one of the greatest dan- 
gers to be found to-day in the average kindergarten lies 
in the absorption of method and the aggressiveness of 
the teacher's personality to the exclusion of sponta- 
neity, and the self-effacement necessary upon the teach- 
er's part for the promotion of unconscious development 
in the child. 

We can all, no doubt, as Rousseau says, " sit rever- 
ently at the feet of infancy, watching and learning." 

Sully speaks of Rousseau's belief that the infant comes 

12 



CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 

unspoiled from the hands of its Maker, and is not born 
morally depraved, to be made good by miraculous appli- 
ances. The accepted belief of many psychologists of 
to-day is that every child comes into the world loaded 
down with inherited tendencies to evil, from which it 
will eventually suffer unless they are counteracted by 
opposing influences. The child is certainly unformed at 
this period, hence may be moulded for good or evil, and 
in consequence man's methods in training must be care- 
fully adjusted so as not to brush away the bloom of the 
"lovely grace of childhood." There is an instinctive 
goodness and gladness in every child that, in spite of 
evil heredity and depraved surroundings, will respond 
to sympathetic treatment. But to treat children sympa- 
thetically in order that we may obtain a clearer insight 
into their mental processes and know better how to 
guide them, we must certainly absorb the spirit of 
Froebel, who begs us to live with our children, not only 
for them, as so many do, and keep them happy. 

I have never seen a child who was not happy and in- 
clined to be good when well occupied. The letter of 
Froebel's philosophy was simply meant by him to be an 
aid in establishing a suitable environment to fit the com- 
prehension of the children in question, and it is invalu- 
able when properly used to keep them happily em- 
ployed. But if a mother happens to be placed beyond 
the reach of a kindergarten, or the aid of a kindergart- 
ner, she need not despair of attempting the work unaid- 
ed, for by studying Froebel's philosophy and reading his 
meaning with the eyes of love, she will clearly see how 
she may prepare for her child an environment of suggest- 
ion, and formulate for herself a method that will grasp 
the entire meaning of his play and occupations, with 

13 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

their wonderful results. Then, when she sends her child 
away to begin his life-work, she may feel that she has 
given him power with which he can easily handle the 
problems that Mall confront him daily, and that she has 
not only given him power, but has done it in a manner 
that has not hindered his physical development, the 
soundness of which will determine largely his whole 
future intellectual and moral life. Dr. Preyer here 
added : " Therefore, the controlling supervision of the 
physical development in childhood is the most important 
task of all young mothers." Fathers may assist in such 
work if they will but realize the importance of surround- 
ing young mothers with the serene, happy conditions in 
their daily lives that will impel them by their great con- 
tent to live with their children, as Froebel begs them to 
do, and watch over them w T ith that brooding mother- 
love which should be the natural outcome of affection 
and consideration not denied them in their own relations 
of life. 



CHAPTER I 
FRAGMENTARY FIRST- YEAR NOTES 

The dated record of the spontaneous development of 
the child in question began when he was fourteen 
months old, and comparatively few notes were made 
during the period covering the first year. The few 
facts that were noted may be of greater interest, pos- 
sibly, to psychologists than to the general reader. For 
instance, the child's first sign of early adaptation to 
surroundings, of which Compayre speaks, was possibly 
given when he was found contentedly sucking his 
thumb, after the fashion of many other infants, about 
half an hour after he was born. Both nurse and phy- 
sician dwelt frequently upon the importance of the fact 
that when the child received his first bath he lifted his 
head unaided from the lap in which he was lying, thus 
showing to the popular mind an early inclination to 
know what was going on about him, again following the 
fashion of many other mortals, and to the psychologist 
great promise of brain power. He showed on the second 
and third days a decided disinclination to sleep in the 
nurse's arms, but he would invariably fall asleep easily 
when removed to his mother's arms. Receptiveness to 
sympathy may probably here be traced, for the nurse 
was unsympathetic. 

The child noticed color when he was a little over 
three months old. He was lying on a bed, near a hat 

15 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

trimmed with stiff yellow flowers. lie put out his hand 
and touched them. The rattling noise of the flowers 
must have pleased him, for when the hat was moved a 
little farther away from him, he stretched his body after 
it so he could reach and rattle them again. Dr. Preyer 
added an interrogation point to this incident, evidently 
questioning the date, for it was at that part of the manu- 
script that he pointed his question. When I wrote to 
him the last time I explained how I knew the date to be 
a fact, but his death intervened before I could receive a 
reply. The child had noticed some colored balls of red 
and white a few days before the hat incident. His nurse 
hung them near him, and he played with them while 
lying on a couch and kicking up his heels. He seemed 
happiest always when he was let alone and treated like 
a machine, and at even this early age he was fully able 
to amuse himself, as nearly all well children are when a 
wholesome regime has once been established. 

He objected to a Raff concerto for violin and piano, 
but tolerated Handel's Largo, although with a quiver of 
his lip. This was before he was four months old. The 
Raff music began just as he was going to sleep ; he cried 
bitterly on hearing it, and he was taken to the music- 
room to see if it would quiet him to see the performers. 
He cried continuously, however, as if he suffered. Then, 
as an experiment, the Largo was played. This seemed 
to soothe him somewhat, but his parents concluded that 
the violin was the trouble and laid it aside. (It is inter- 
esting to note that a year later he developed a great 
fondness for violin music, begging for it whenever op- 
portunity offered.) 

At this time a single voice singing would not quiet 
him, if for any of the numerous reasons of early baby- 
it) 



FRAGMENTARY FIRST-YEAR NOTES 

land he was not inclined to sleep ; but two voices, sing- 
ing in parts, would invariably have the desired soothing 
effect. (The record shows, later on, great susceptibility 
to rhythm and harmony.) The music of hand-organs 
always seemed to attract him, even before he was four 
months old. This he showed, at this early date, by 
pushing towards the window and jumping in his nurse's 
arms whenever the organs appeared. His eyes followed 
his aunt across the room at this same age (three and a 
half months), and he also looked at himself attentively 
in the glass several times, leaning over and putting his 
lips to his little reflection. 

"When four months old he was taken to the shore. 
(His first tooth had appeared before this, and soon after 
his arrival several others made their appearance. He 
had sixteen teeth when he was a year old, the result, 
the physician said, of careful feeding and attention 
to hygiene). During his shore experience he was noth- 
ing more nor less than a little automaton, for by this 
time he had become habituated to his nursery routine, 
which was kept up undeviatingly. This automatic way 
of living was so marked that for a week a person in 
a neighboring room did not know there was a baby 
near, nor would she believe it at first when told. This 
serenity was undoubtedly caused by the thoroughly 
regular life of the mother, the nurse, and the child. He 
frequently took his morning nap within hearing of the 
hotel musicians, one of whom was the proud possessor 
of a trumpet ; even this could not conquer the child's 
regular habit of sleep. I mention this as being of prob- 
able interest to parents as well as to psychologists, al- 
though it is far from wise to put a child to sleep irre- 
spective of noise and light. 
B 17 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

The child's early sense of humor, which is a marked 
characteristic throughout the record, was shown by his 
manner of receiving the visits of a very jolly-looking 
physician who was an image of Santa Claus, and at 
whom he would always laugh inordinately, even when 
he was only five months old, whether he was ailing or 
not. It grew to be so noticeable that once even the 
physician, seeing him laughing, without knowing the 
cause, shook his finger at him and said to the mother : 
" You must make that child stop laughing," when the 
child laughed more than ever, and the mother pleaded 
her inability to control what seemed perfectly natural 
and spontaneous. 

In the same spontaneous way he reached out his arms 
for the first colored servant he ever saw (a chambermaid 
with a fresh white cap and apron on), and promptly 
kissed her. (The record shows throughout a great lik- 
ing for what he called " lovely white.") This won the 
hearts of the entire hotel staff, for it was duly retailed 
b} 7- the favored recipient, and after that both the child 
and nurse were in no need of willing service at all hours 
and places, and under all circumstances. At this time 
the telegraph ticking and the washing of the waves were 
his two absorbing amusements during the few hours he 
was awake. Sailing had no terrors for him. The yacht 
captains called him " our baby." His nurse held him 
over the side of the boat, where he would contentedly 
watch the water dash against it, even when out on the 
ocean where the waves were high. (He always showed 
the same content when watching the splashing of his 
bath, and would look intently with much pleasure at the 
water running swiftly from the faucets.) Once, during 
a passing shower of rain, he settled down contentedly in 

18 



FRAGMENTARY FIRST-YEAR NOTES 

the stuffy little cabin of a sail-boat, where he apparently 
took in all his surroundings very quietly, just as he had 
done on the train when travelling to the shore, with 
never a murmur nor a cry, but always eager to see or 
do something. His wants were usually anticipated, 
which, with his regular life, may probably have had 
some influence in promoting this unlooked-for serenity. 

The only time he was known to be guilty of putting 
anything in his mouth after the fashion of children who 
are continually doing so when they should not, was 
when sailing one day he was discovered chewing a tarry 
bit of rope by a family friend who declared the child 
was only half fed and was hungry, this innuendo being 
directed at the mother for her well-known insistence 
upon regularity in feeding the child. The rope was 
replaced by something that seemed equally desirable to 
him, which method of removal may also contain a sug- 
gestion for that parent who believes in early discipline. 

"When, after returning from the shore, the child was 
taken to the mountain, he showed a fancy for throwing 
pebbles and green grapes, which he picked for the pur- 
pose, while in his nurse's arms ; and all this was done, 
presumably, from imitation of some boys who played 
with him. in this manner. 

He began to walk very early, stood up alone when 
nine months old, and attempted to sing when placed on 
a music-stool before the piano. He sang the music of 
two lines of "Annie Eooney " correctly, from imitation, 
when nine months old. His nurse-maid sang this song 
daily. 

At this time he showed a shrinking sort of fear when 
he heard a noise like a hammer striking something in the 
next room, and also when he heard a coal fall from the 

19 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

orate. During an unavoidable absence of a day and a 
night upon the part of his mother, he cried, and appar- 
ently missed her. After her return, he would cry when- 
ever she approached the door by which she had left 
when she went away. 

One evening, when he heard his father and mother 
singing a duet, he joined in, in the most naive way, 
singing up and down to the very end, as if he couldn't 
help it. Every one about him was careful not to laugh 
at anything he did ; consequently his spontaneity was 
deliciously entertaining. 

He would at this time recognize the voice of a favorite 
servant when she passed the door on the outside, and he 
would call loudly for her. He began to try to say a few 
words at this period, as related in the dated record, and 
succeeded in walking a few steps. He crept very little. 
He seemed to give great attention to everything he did, 
so no doubt he soon learned that he could do better than 
creep, so far as locomotion was concerned. 

Com pay re says the child's consciousness flashes forth 
at first in gestures, later in his babbling. Hence the 
particular interest which the observation of his outward 
movement offers as the sincere expression of his mental 
activity. (Compare an idiotic with a normal child — the 
first quiet, the latter all motion.) Besides, these motions 
which we can follow and note with exactness, however 
slight may be the attention we may give them, are in 
themselves psychic facts, and only to have described 
them would be psychology in itself. M. Anthomie 
speaks of the power of penetration that the mother's 
eye acquires, fixed with a sweet determination upon one 
she loves. The force of the tenderness creates between 
the parent and the child relations so close, a moral inti- 

20 



FRAGMENTARY FIRST-YEAR NOTES 

macy so deep, that the faintest heart-beats of the child 
re-echo in the ears of those that love him. Paternal and 
maternal love carry with them a sort of divination. 
Compayre says that the best psychologists of child- 
hood are those who have followed carefully, from hour 
to hour, the moral development of their own children. 
He says if the journals kept by a mother or a father, in 
which a careful hand registers from day to day the 
smallest incidents of the child's existence, are really the 
most precious sources of observation, all information, 
wherever it comes from, is welcome. Mme. decker de 
Saussure recommended these records fifty years ago, 
saying: "I strongly urge young mothers to keep an 
accurate record of the development of their children." 
Much of the following dated record of the little life 
which rolled along so serenely and pleasantly may seem 
of slight value to the general reader, who is simply 
charmed with the fascination of children's ways, yet 
for reasons like the above none may be omitted, for 
we are told that the key-note of the whole psychologi- 
cal value of the work might prove to be found in those 
facts that might be omitted by one who does not know, 
yet hopes that herein is faithfully pictured the inner life 
of a child. 



CHAPTER II 

SECOND YEAR, COVERING DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE, 
AND, INCIDENTALLY, THE CULTIVATION OF OBEDI- 
ENCE AND TRUST 

April 11, 1891. — Fourteen months old. I was reading 
aloud from Punch and Judy, which is fully illustrated. 
When I came to the place where Punch says, " Oh, my 
nose ! my best Sunday nose !" Harold touched his nose, 
then bent over and touched mine, and, placing his head 
against my shoulder, he screwed up his face in a grin 
and laughed loud twice in succession. The book was 
given to him when he was a year old, and ever since 
receiving it he has shown great delight when he sees the 
^picture where Punch and Judy are turning their faces 
to each other, and Judy says, " Punchy, wunchy, dear 
old Punchy !" Harold always laughs aloud when he 
sees this, and at any time of the day or night I need 
but say the words to make him laugh. Once I whis- 
pered them to him in the middle of the night, when he 
was restless, and he laughed loud, was diverted for the 
moment, turned over, and fell asleep. (The record shows 
to present date that he is keenly alive to fun, and ad- 
vantage of the fact was often taken for diverting him 
from what might otherwise have proved a source of 
trouble.) 

April 12th. — When putting away some of his blocks 
to-day I inadvertently put some in a basket with other 



SECOND YEAR 

toys, but he reached for the little wagon in which they 
belonged, intimated that he wanted them all, and put 
them, one by one, in the basket, sometimes, however, 
stopping to build. I attempted to make a note of this 
with a pencil, which he took from me, tried to write 
with it, discovered that he had the wrong end of the 
pencil, and turned it about. The same day he saw a 
dog across the street. He looked intently at him and 
said something that sounded like " wow ! wow !" He 
frequently says it upon seeing a little boy. He did it 
to-day, his manner showing distinctly that he meant it 
for the boy. 

One day this week, while in his coach on the street, 
coming home, he began to throw kisses just before 
falling asleep. He often does this when going out or 
when going to bed, and, according to Dr. Preyer, some 
association with farewell causes him to do it. 

He occasionally has an egg for breakfast, of which he 
is very fond. They are served to him in cups similar to 
those used at table. On Sunday he was in the dining- 
room, and as soon as he saw the egg-cups on the table 
he cried, apparently for an egg, and could with diffi- 
culty be diverted. 

One morning last week, when watching some one 
dress, he brought the shoes needed, one by one, from 
a closet near by, and took the bath slippers back in 
the same way. One day recently he voluntarily went 
to a couch, under which stood a pair of shoes, and car- 
ried them one by one to the shoe-case, set them down 
before the curtain, and then turned and seated himself 
on the floor before us, looking up as though he wanted 
to be praised. 

He often begs to be taken up into some one's arms to 

23 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

watch the brushing of teeth. This suggested buying a 
brush for him, which he gravely puts in water now and 
brushes his own teeth daily. This morning, when watch- 
ing his mother brush her teeth, he picked up a brush 
lying near him and took it to his father, saying, ques- 
tioningly, "hab 'em?" He has said "hab 'em?" and 
" gib 'em," and " ups-a-dada " for over a month. He 
says the latter when lifting anything, or when jumping 
up and down. He often pretends to drop something 
from his hand, and pulls it up quickly, saying "ups-a- 
dada!" I think he learned this expression from his 
nurse. When he says " hab 'em ?" he hands you some- 
thing. He often picks up something from the floor — a 
thread or a pin — and brings it to you, saying "hab 
'em ?" If he wants anything he reaches for it and says 
"hab 'em?" or "gib 'em." He often comes with his 
hand closed, looking very mischievous, and says "hab 
'em ?" and on opening it you find nothing. 

About this time he learned what " no, no" meant. A 
cover that was used for a water-pail in the room next to 
"his seemed to attract him very much on account of a 
hole in its centre, through which we would occasionally 
find him poking his fists. One day he was found there 
pretending to wash his hands. "We then began to take 
him away from it and say " no, no," doing it quietly 
but persistently. One day nurse and I followed him at 
intervals no less than twenty times to do this, as a mat- 
ter of experiment, to find out whether he could learn 
what " inevitable " meant. Frequently he seemed to 
understand what we were trying to do, for he would 
often run away from us and go directly there, as if in a 
spirit of mischief, look at us and laugh as he stood there, 
while at other times he would walk up to it gravely, 

24 



SECOND YEAR 

stand there, shake his head, and say " ~No, no." We 
had the same experience with a linen-closet, the lower 
shelf of which had a little door which he could pull open 
very easily, and the lock of which we often found him 
examining very intently. (The record shows a keen 
interest in mechanics.) We would find him sitting before 
the closet, door open, and all the clean towels scattered 
about him. He seemed to take a special delight in rum- 
pling them. We took him away every time, saying: 
" No, no ; they belong to mamma." He soon under- 
stood that this too was forbidden ground. From this 
date we began systematically to teach him to consider 
the rights of others, and to touch nothing that did not 
belong strictly to himself. 

(The record shows that this was carried out unfail- 
ingly, but without severity, in order to keep the child 
fearless, and results recorded show complete success in 
the effort.) About this time we noticed how fretfulness 
would disappear upon sight of his hat and coat, appar- 
ently in the hope of being taken out. 

A few days after the first experience with " no, no," he 
ran away from us through two rooms, going directly to 
the water-pail, crowing all the way as though he thought 
he would get there first before we could catch him. He 
did get there, and laughing as if he had done it for fun, 
stood waiting for nurse to take him away, and went 
without a struggle. 

One morning this week he found a bunch of keys at- 
tached to a chain. He seized them instantly, took them 
to an iron bedstead, and pushed the bunch between the 
spring and the frame of the bed, holding on to the chain 
and letting the keys move up and down as he pulled 
the chain, saying " ups-a-dada !" taking great delight evi- 

25 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

dently in the clinking of the keys against the iron frame. 
He has been going repeatedly during the last few weeks 
to a chiffonnier, where he would stand looking up intently 
at the door of a little closet in it, which held a slender- 
necked claret-glass, of which he is ver\>- fond. He some- 
times would say " hab 'em?" when looking at the door. 
"We regularly opened the closet and gave him the glass 
to carry for a while, which he did with the greatest care 
and pride. He would then return it, apparently satis- 
fied, and we would replace the glass in the closet. One 
morning this week he broke it accidentally, but for two 
days he still went to the closet each morning in the 
same way that he did before he broke the glass. We 
opened the door each time to show him that it was not 
there, and at last he seemed to understand, and never 
went again. 

He has shown for some time a desire to fit things 
together, or to drop things into holes. To-day he was 
playing in one room with part of a broken toy — a 
pointed stick with a hole at one end, through which 
he "could put his finger. He did this a number of 
times, examining it intently where his finger came 
through the hole, when he seemed to be suddenly 
struck with some idea and started for the next room, 
going as fast as he could walk. As we never interfered 
with him unless we saw danger ahead, I followed quietly 
and saw him go directly to the water-pail before men- 
tioned and poke the piece of wood up and down in the 
hole in the lid of the pail, saying " ups-a-dada !" He 
came away without a murmur when I took his hand and 
said, " No, no," dropped the piece of wood at once, and 
took up another toy. 

"We gave him some kitchen things to play with to-day, 

26 



SECOND YEAR 

as he seems to take especial delight in them, especially 
the contents of the bottom part of the dresser — pots, 
pans, etc. Among those given to him was a new salt- 
box that looked like silver. Shortly after we gave him 
the lid, and although it was gilt and the box silver, he 
instantly fitted the lid where it belonged, selecting the 
box from several things on the table. He was sitting 
upon the table himself at the time. We then tried him 
with a quart and a pint jar of glass, each having covers 
to fit, which we gave to him at different times. He fitted 
them correctly without a moment's hesitation. 

He has begun dancing now when he hears street- 
organs, but only when there is a suitable rhythm. If he 
hears the music at a distance he drops his toys, runs to 
the window, and cries to be lifted up to see. The organ- 
grinders know him so well that he has them here daily. 
(When seven years old he showed a marked sense of 
rhythm, and a] though he had received very little musical 
instruction, he then picked out very pretty harmonies.) 
He is beginning to imitate the rag-and-slop man, giving 
a very fair imitation, as he runs through the rooms, gen- 
erally carrying under his arm, in imitation of the rag- 
man's bag, a journal full of mechanical illustrations, 
which is his pet book. 

He comes to my bed in the morning after having been 
dressed by his nurse, hands me my shoes and gown, say- 
ing "hab 'em?" and then hands me all the clothes he 
can find that he knows belong to me. When at last, 
after much of this sort of persuasion, I get up, he can 
hardly wait to call his father, which he does by going to 
his bedside and saying " ba " ; sometimes " baba." He 
has had a great fashion lately of kissing me at odd mo- 
ments, often on each eye successively, especially when 

27 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

I am lying clown face upward. This evening he kissed 
his father in the middle of a song, while he was holding 
him in his arms and singing. If we say " Sing, Harold," 
he will hum a few notes. He did it this afternoon when 
out in his coach, and also this evening when his father 
was playing a song. 

April 16th. — Harold picked up my thimble to-day and 
brought it to me, took up my hand, and fitted it on my 
finger. 

April 18th. — Since the 16th inst. he has himself used 
the bottle of lotion that was given by the physician to 
ease his gums during teething. He takes the bottle in 
one hand, puts his finger on its mouth, turns it enough 
to wet his finger, and rubs his gums. 

His coach parasol was used to-day for the first time 
since last summer, and he showed fear when placed 
under it. He looked up at the cover as if afraid to sit 
under it, and cried bitterly. I soothed and diverted him 
until he reached the street, when he seemed to forget it. 
To-day I took a dime from him to put in his bank, and 
when he saw it about to disappear he cried. 

April 17th. — "We tried to use an atomizer to-day, but 
he showed fear as soon as he saw it, although he had 
never seen one before, and he cried bitterly when I in- 
sisted upon using it in accordance with the physician's 
directions. He seems to show fear of some things that 
work in any way that he cannot understand, or where 
he cannot find the motive power. 

April 18th. — I brought out the atomizer again, in- 
tending to use it. As soon as he saw it he left my 
knee, where he was standing, and walked very quickly 
into the other room, as fast and as far as he could go, 
and stood there and cried. I gave up all attempt to use 

28 



SECOND YEAR 

it from that time for fear of making him nervous, and 
because force was never used if it could be avoided. 
When his teeth seemed to hurt him I gave him the bottle 
of the lotion we used and told him to apply it himself, 
which he did in what seemed to me to be a very grateful 
way. (The record shows that when he was five years old 
his mother felt that something should be done to habitu- 
ate him to the use of the spray, if only as a precautionary 
measure for probable need during illness. It took her 
longer than a year, making the effort at intervals of 
probably a month, to teach him gently and without 
bribing or straining his nerves by using force, to use 
both atomizer and vaporizer. At seven it is still very 
evident that he dislikes them, yet he uses them bravely, 
showing how a victory of mind over matter may be 
brought about by patience and gentle treatment, and 
also how moral courage may incidentally be cultivated 
in a very young child.) 

About a week ago he walked to the wash-stand, and 
pointed to the pitcher and cried. I gave him some water 
to drink, and he took a great deal, apparently being very 
thirsty. When offering him his bottle of milk this 
morning, he shook his head, said " No, no," and walked 
away. He seems to be strong-willed and self-reliant, 
but not capricious, perhaps because he trusts us. 

Last night he had two bottles in his crib. One con- 
tained sterilized water for use during the night ; the 
other was a small, empty bottle, with an unpunctured 
nipple tied on securely. We gave him the latter to bite 
on during teething. He was very fond of it, was rarely 
without it, and took it to bed with him every night for 
a long time, where he would hold it tight in his hand 
until he fell asleep. About midnight he was restless, 

29 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

and I gave him the water-bottle. He took a long drink, 
and when he had enough, compared the bottles in the 
dim light, shook the water-bottle, held it up, and looked 
first at it, then at the little one. At last, after doing 
this several times, he lifted up the little one, shook it, 
looked at it very closely, laid away the water-bottle, 
turned over, and fell asleep with the little bottle in his 
hand. 

Quite recently, when visiting his grandparents, they 
had an amusing experience with the little bottle. It was 
mislaid during the excitement of his arrival, and when 
bedtime came it could not be found. He refused to 
sleep. The entire household took part in the search, 
and at last it was found under the bed, given to him, and 
he soon fell asleep. It may not seem wise to be so de- 
pendent upon accidental circumstances, but his mother 
cannot quite make up her mind to deprive him of the 
comfort he takes in his " bot," as he calls it. (The record 
shows how he gradually dropped the habit himself as 
other interests developed.) 

Since January, when he was eleven months old, he 
has shown fear whenever he sees a wire dress-form that 
is in the sewing-room, and all our efforts to familiarize 
him with it seem to be useless. 

April 16th. — He began to build with blocks to-day, 
placing five or six on top of each other with great care 
and precision. 

The words he has learned since November, when he 
was nine months old, are as follows, given in the order 
of acquirement: "Oh, mammam," "hab 'em," "gib 
'em," " ups-a-dada," " wow wow," " bow wow," " ba " 
and " baba " for papa (he generally says " ba "), " by- 
bye." 

30 



SECOND YEAR 

April 27. — " Ssss " (which he says to dogs, cats, etc., 
pointing his finger). The first week in April he said 
"button" and "dollar." 

April 30th he said " cock " for clock, on seeing a very 
large clock at his grandfather's. He said, the same 
week, " ga " for cat, " rub-a-dub-dub," " eene, eene, mine 
mo," and " oo-oory-oooo " to a rooster in the immediate 
vicinity, which answered every time he did it. He was 
behind a fence, where he could not see the rooster. He 
had never seen or heard one, but on hearing this one 
crow he imitated him so accurately that the two kept 
it up for some time, and it was his favorite amusement 
during his week's visit. Said " dere " for there. 

May 8th.— Said " tick-tick-tick" and " cock " for clock 
for the second time, upon seeing a large picture of a clock 
similar to the one he saw April 30th at his grandfather's. 
After he was dressed this morning he ran just as fast 
as he could toddle to his father, who was still asleep. 
He stood by him for a few minutes and said " up, up " 
several times, and looked very much disappointed be- 
cause this did not waken him. He stood quietly for a 
moment looking at him, and no doubt puzzling what to 
do, when he went to the other side of the room to the 
shoe-closet and very deliberately took out a bath-slipper, 
which he carried to his father, saying, as he put it on the 
bed, " up, up." Then he returned to the closet for the 
other one, and repeated " up, up " as he was bringing it. 
He had to make two trips, for it took both hands to 
carry each slipper. By this time his father was awake, 
and Harold seemed very eager to begin his morning 
romp without more delay. 

On May 10th (fifteen months old) he said "hark"; 
also, "boo" for book, and the word "up." 

31 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

On May 15th he said " goo " for good. He frequently 
repeats the following words to himself, as if trying 
them: "hark, 1 " "dere," "rub-a-dub-dub," "bow' wow," 
"by -bye," "ups-a-dada," "up," "hab 'em," "ssss." 
He said "now" for the first time. 

On June 14th (sixteen months old) he called a boy 
by name (Paul), and on June 15th said "Bidyet" 
for Bridget. At this date he gabbles a great deal, 
making all sorts of sounds, and seems to understand 
when he is told ko shut the door, kiss the cheek, bring 
mamma's shoes, bring Harold's shoes. He points to 
his eyes and his nose, or to mine, when asked where 
they are. 

On July 16th he said "Judy," and kissed the wire 
form of which he was afraid in January. Since July 
1st he has seemed to grow accustomed to, and even be- 
come fond of it, saying " Lovely Judy." "When we 
speak to him of it we say " Lovely Judy," etc., and 
pat it kindly, and in various ways we have tried to get 
him over his fear of it, with the above result. 

July 18th. — To-day he said "bavy" for baby, and 
repeated it upon looking at a picture of one. He also 
pronounces "1" in clock now. 

July 19th. — He walked up to the baby picture which 
hung on the wall, and repeated "baby" in a loving 
tone. He also said " out " distinctly to-day. He has 
said " outs " for a long time, but w^e could not discover 
what he meant until this month, w T hen we heard him 
say it when he pricked himself with a pin. We then 
traced the connection between his expression and a 
word used by one of the servants — " ouch" — and had a 
practical demonstration of the influence of an unedu- 
cated servant upon a child learning to talk, for it took 

32 



SECOND YEAR 

a long time and much patient effort to teach him to 
drop this word. 

He opens his mouth and shows his tongue now when 
asked where it is, but he makes no attempt to say the 
word. 

He calls pussy " psss," drawing out the sound of s. 
Later in this month he called pussy "putty," and said 
" braw" for " broth." 

The words acquired from July 1st to 12th are " light," 
"bye," "how do," "coat," "cap," "stove," "door," and 
"shoes." He said "fire" one day recently, when he 
saw a lot of stoves at a hardware store. 

July 23d. — To-day he tried to say, "Peep, Bidyet," 
peeping around the wire form. He now says, distinctly, 
" rock-a-bye " as he rocks himself to and fro. 

July 24th. — To-day he tried to say " potato," and he 
said "go away" when some one was teasing him. He 
frequently says " no, no," shaking his head as he says it. 
He understands when we tell him to " sit on the floor," 
or to shut or open the door. He sings himself to sleep 
very often. He has one favorite that I play (one of 
Heller's Studies on Rhythm), which he tries to sing 
whenever he hears it. 

New words on July 26th and 27th are "bread," 
"blow," and "door," which he says very distinctly. 

Since July 1st he has said something that sounds like 
"a-a-a-h," drawing it out between ah and oh, and mak- 
ing it slightly nasal. He says it very lovingly to his 
pussy, or anything in the way of pets that are alive. 
He will take his pussy in his arms, smooth her fur affec- 
tionately, and say it in the most loving manner possible. 
He has always shown great love for kittens or any live 
pet. 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

To-day, during the visit of a friend, he tried to occupy 
my entire attention. Hardly thinking he would do so, 
I told him very suggestively to go to the piano and play 
and sing. He went at once, put his fingers on the keys, 
and tried to sing for about a minute, which served to 
divert him for the moment and gave me the freedom I 
wanted. 

A servant said to him to-day, " Peep, Harold !" when 
playing " peek-a-boo " with him. He instantly replied, 
"Peep, Bidyet!" although he had never said "peep" 
before. He always says " y " for " g " in her name. He 
imitates words very quickly and correctly for a child of 
seventeen months, and seems to understand the meaning 
of many more words than he says. 

July 20th. — When building with blocks, pennies, or 
anything that he can place one above the other, he lifts 
both hands and exclaims, " o-o-o-o-o-o-o-e !" drawing out 
the long " e " indefinitely, as if very much pleased with 
his building. We let him amuse himself in this way for 
a long time, changing his materials as he seems to need 
them. We never change until he begins to show a little 
restlessness, for so long as a child is content it is folly to 
disturb it. In time this policy secures serenity for the 
child and peace for those about him. 

He now helps undress himself for his bath every even- 
ing, lifts each arm or foot when told to help remove 
each garment, and he evidently takes great delight in 
the whole process and is always eager for it. 

For a long time he has given an expression of distaste 
(sounds like " ugh !") when obliged to take medicine that 
he does not like, and he follows the sound with a shake 
of his head. 

When finished taking his bottle of milk, no matter 

84 



SECOND YEAR 

where he is, whether just about going to sleep or if 
reacty for play, he first hands the empty bottle to some 
convenient person, saying, "hab 'em." He does this 
every time, and we encourage the habit in the hope of 
inducing method in his actions. (The record shows that 
at seven he gives evidence of the results of this plan 
of action, for he invariably shuts doors when passing 
through them, replaces articles he may have used to 
where they belong, and in many ways shows a methodi- 
cal manner of action, even in his play.) 

He often leaves an ounce or more in the bottle. Noth- 
ing can induce him to take this when he reaches the 
point which to him seems final. 

July 28th. — He said " baba " for papa to-day, for the 
first time for a long while. He has said " ba " only, with 
one or two exceptions, before this time. 

He now says " door" frequently, and says " bruh " for 
brush. 

Since August 2d he has said "birdie" distinctly, 
" bre " for bread, " bat " for bath, and " wa " for water 
on seeing a tub filled with it. A week ago he saw it 
rain very fast, and said " vvat." When he sees a glass 
he says "wat," and will take a drink if we will offer 
water in the glass. He also saj^s "wat" when thirsty, 
without seeing a glass to suggest it. 

On August 13th he pointed to the gas-fixture and said 
"li" for light. 

The next day he went to two gates in the yard, one 
after the other, and said " ga " at each one. The same 
day he saw a bird from a window in the nursery, and he 
went from one window to the other to see it as long as 
he could, saying "birdie," showing clearly how he reason- 
ed about seeing farther from one window than the other. 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

I took up a clothes-brush of his father's to-day as I 
stood at the dressing-case with him in my arms. He 
took it from me and said, " baba, bruh." I smiled, and 
he said it again and kissed it. He is very affectionate, 
and we all try to be as responsive as it is possible for 
older persons to be. Children are really made very un- 
happy at times by the chilling manner with which their 
affectionate outbursts are sometimes met. Snubbing 
and unkind criticism should have no place in a child's 
education when spontaneity is desired. 

On the 7th of this month (August) his father brought 
him a fox-terrier, called Jack, that had just arrived 
from England. Harold was delighted with him, and 
the dog seemed to be equally delighted with the child. 
He cried the first time the dog licked his face. "We 
could not punish nor train the dog to do an}^thing in the 
child's presence b} 7 showing severity, for every time any 
one spoke sharply to the dog, Harold would cry. (The 
record shows this trait throughout. "When only four 
^months old he would cry if he saw another baby cry. 
"When seven years old he confided to his mother, one 
night before going to bed, what a little girl had told him 
in the day about her intention of drowning a family of 
young kittens. "With tears in his voice and eyes, he 
said: "Oh, mamma, I cannot bear to talk about it! 
"Will she do it ?" His mother said no, and further as- 
sured him she would not allow it. He then said : " If 
she does, I'll drown the mother kitty myself; if she 
wants to drown the babies, she ought to drown the 
mother, too." Then he said : " Mamma, it nearly makes 
me cry to even tell you." So she diverted him with 
a funny remark, which he is always quick to appre- 
ciate.) 

36 



SECOND YEAE 

He follows his dog all over the house, plays with him 
happily, and loves him very much, but he tries to pre- 
vent him from touching him with his tongue. He often 
says to him in the most loving tone, "o-o-o-h," drawing 
it out at great length. 

He now goes to sleep regularly in his crib. Before 
this he was frequently held in arms while being sung 
to sleep, after which he would be quietly placed in his 
bed, and no trouble was experienced in making the 
change. He seems to trust us so entirely that he will 
do whatever we can make him understand is for his 
good. This trust is cultivated by never asking him to 
do anything simply for the amusement of others, or to 
show their authority, and he always gets a reason that 
he can understand when he is directed to do anything, 
unless instant obedience is required, as in case of 
danger, when the reason for the command is carefully 
explained after he has obeyed. (This may account to 
some extent for the reasonableness of his disposition as 
it develops later on.) 

August 14:th. — To-day, when giving him his nap, I for- 
got to pull down the mosquito-netting that was hanging 
over his crib. He pulled at it, saying " h'm," whether 
in imitation of the hum of a mosquito or not I cannot 
say. He seems to understand all we say to him, but we 
are careful to use words that we think he will under- 
stand. If I say : " Take this to papa, please," or, " Take 
this to Sarah, please," he distinguishes, and does it cheer- 
fully. He is always willing to do things for us, to run 
little errands, and if he sees anything drop from my lap 
when I am reading or sewing, he invariably stops his 
play and comes to pick it up for me. In this way he 
shows all the time what seems like a loving wish to 

37 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

help, which we are encouraging, for it is the kej-note of 
self -activity, and promotes unselfishness. 

Sometimes I say : " Do you want your bottle ?" He 
understands, and says " Yes." When either the nurse 
or I must leave the room for a moment we say : " Harold, 
will you please sit still on the chair until I come back ?" 
He always says "Yes," and sits there, many a time 
singing to himself until we return. This plan was fol- 
lowed so as to be sure he would not get into mischief 
from undue temptation, for he is too young yet to resist. 
We always found it more effective and more pleasant 
to say " do this," or " do that, please," instead of say- 
ing " don't." 

August 17th. — When he awoke this morning he said 
" door," pointing to it. Then he pointed to the bell and 
said : " Bridyet, door-bell ringing." This was his first 
attempt at connecting a sentence of any length. He is 
now eighteen months old. 

He now calls his dog by name, adding a " y " to it, 
.however, saying " Jacky." He also tries to make a 
sound with his lips to call the dog, in imitation of his 
father's method of calling the dog to him. 

August 21st. — When I was showing him his "Piggy 
Book " to-day, he put his finger on each picture and then 
put it in his mouth and looked very knowing. Upon 
looking into the matter we found that yesterday his 
nurse wet her finger to turn a leaf and he imitated her 
to-day, but his action looked as if he thought he was 
eating from the book. He tasted his medicine to-day 
by putting his finger in it before he would take it. He 
had two bottles of medicine that looked alike. He liked 
one, and objected decidedly to taking the other. After 
finding out, by putting his finger in it, that I was offer- 

38 



SECOND YEAR 

ing him the one he liked, he took it without a word. 
When using vaseline for a head cold, he always helps 
put it on. He will put his finger in the bottle very 
daintily and rub the bridge of his nose and forehead 
thoroughly, but he often puts little dabs all over his 
face too, as if he enjoys it. 

He tried to help me push a piece of sewing through 
the machine this morning when I was stitching. He 
placed his hands on the work as he saw the seamstress 
do yesterday. He was on my lap at the time, where I 
often allow him to sit as I sew. He enjoys watching 
the machine go so very much that he will sit motionless 
so long as any one will hold him, maybe five minutes at 
a time gazing at the same thing. For three months he 
has pulled the strap of the machine voluntarily, look- 
ing up at the same time to see the needle move. (This 
interest in mechanics was allowed to grow spontane- 
ously by providing the right environment for it, and at 
seven he shows remarkable ingenuity and mechanical 
skill.) 

August 22d. — Some little girls who live next door came 
home yesterday, and nurse asked Harold to call to one 
of them, saying, " Call Mamie," which he did distinctly, 
and, although he had never said Mamie before, to our 
knowledge, he repeated it several times afterwards. He 
always does this with new words, as if trying them. 
(The record shows that he did this without any acquire- 
ment of language up to seven years, and does it still, his 
favorite time for practice being after he wakes in the 
morning.) She also told him to call Alice, the sister. 
He tried to do so, but succeeded only in saying " Ell." 

His father has been away for a few days, and to-day 
he called " papa " after a man going by, and cried bit- 

39 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

terly because the man did not stop. I did not notice 
whether the man resembled his father or not. The 
father of the little girls next door resembles him, and 
this afternoon when Harold saw him he wanted to go to 
him. The gentleman took him for a while, and Harold 
cried when he was taken away. He evidently misses 
his father very much. About a week after this he was 
taken to the house of a friend where he saw a cuckoo- 
clock for the first time, and learned to say " cuckoo." 
Afterwards when asked what birdie said, he replied, 
" cuckoo." 

He has said " bi " for bite for some time. He heard 
it in connection with some conversation about mosqui- 
toes about the middle of August. He says "bavy" to 
me in the most loving tones. He will lay his head 
against me in the morning and say it when he wants to 
wake me. His head just reaches my pillow as he stands 
by the bed. He says it too, in the same loving way, 
when he thinks he has received a special favor. When- 
ever I do anything that pleases him very much — smile to 
him, give him a kiss, or gwe him a trifle to play with 
that shows him that I thought of him when he wasn't 
there — I notice what seems to me to be an attempt to 
show his appreciation. (The record shows that later on, 
when he could talk, he invariably said on similar occa- 
sions to his mother, either " Lovely mamma," or " Good 
mamma," or " Why are you so good ?" or he would kiss 
her and fondle her and say nothing, and at seven he 
still has the same habit.) 

September 8th. — This morning I killed a mosquito on 
the wall by slapping it with my hand. He promptly 
imitated me, and also looked about the room and up at 
the ceiling to see if there were more of them. He 

40 



SECOND YEAS 

walked about with his head back, imitating every move- 
ment of mine. 

September 8th. — He tried to say "girl" to-day on 
seeing a picture of one in the nursery song-book. I read 
" Mistress Mary, quite contrary," to him this morning. 
"When I said " Mary " he said " Mamie," evidently recog- 
nizing the similarity in Mary to the name " Mamie " that 
he had learned a few days before. When he wants to 
go anywhere or to get something, he now comes to one 
of us and says " hand," and tries to lead us to what he 
wants. A few minutes ago he said to his nurse, " hand 
— stair," leading her to the stairs that go down. 

He heard a person on the street say " wait " yester- 
day, and he called " wait " after him. 

To-day he called " papa " after a man on the street 
who resembled his father. There were other men in the 
vicinity, and he singled out this one. 

On September 5th his father took the dog away and 
remained over Sunday. Harold missed the dog at once 
when he woke from his nap; he called and looked all 
over for both his father and the dog. A few days after, 
when I said to him : " Call the dog," he looked under 
the bed and called " Jacky " distinctly. 

He has said " pease " for please since the middle of 
August ; also " ang you " for thank you. From the be- 
ginning of August he has said " hot " when near any- 
thing warm — as, for instance, a stove, a fire of any kind, 
a dish of hot food, etc. He also says " flies " distinctly, 
and " band," meaning the knit band he wears. 

On September 11th he said " hugar " for sugar. He 
has said it several times lately, but we did not under- 
stand until to-day what he meant by it. He also said 
" gas " and " bites " distinctly to-day instead of saying 

41 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

" ga " and " bi," as he used to do, pointing to the gas- 
fixture when he said " gas," and to some marks of mos- 
quito-bites when he said " bites." 

While driving with Mrs. 1ST this afternoon he put 

his face to his mother's, patted her cheek with his hand, 
and said, in a loving tone, "mamma." Later in the 
day some one said "mam-ma." He immediately said 
" ma-ma," which is the way he always accents the word. 

He leaned over to Mrs. N in the carriage to-day and 

put his hand up towards her cheek, saying, very affec- 
tionately, " o-o-o-h !" This is a very usual expression for 
him when he wants to show liking for any one. He 
always says it when he pets a dog or cat. He shows no 
fear of any one, and a liking for nearly everybody. To- 
day I showed him a picture of a dog. He said " o-o-o-h !" 
kissed the picture, and put it to my lips to be kissed. 
When I said " Call bow-wow," he called " Jacky." 
When he heard an engine go by to-day he said " choo- 
choo " for the first time. 

; This evening we were looking at some pictures when I 
said, pointing to one that only resembled a rooster : " Is 
that an oo-oory-ooo ?" (his name for one). He shook his 
head and said " JSTo." 

Yesterday Mrs. N offered him a piece of sweet 

chocolate. Her little boy is fond of it. Harold tasted it 
and returned it, showing by his manner that he didn't 
like it. I gave him a taste of something I had at the 
time and asked him if he liked it. He made a face, 
shook his head, and said " No-o-o." He always shows 
likes and dislikes very plainty, especially in connection 
with food. 

He saw a roulette-wheel to-day for the first time. He 
and N (a boy of the same age) were playing with it. 

42 



SECOND YEAR 

N" pushed it by the spokes ; Harold took hold of it 

in the middle and twirled it with thumb and forefinger 
in the regular way. 

One evening this week he was allowed to remain up a 
little longer than usual. After his bath he was placed 
in his crib, the gas was lighted, and he was given his 
" Mother-Goose " book and a copy of a weekly journal 
of mechanical illustrations, of which he is so fond that 
whenever he sees one he recognizes it and tries to get it. 
The next night, when being put to bed at the same hour, 
he asked for the book, pointed to the gas, said "gas," 
and kept repeating " book " as he went to his crib. He 
was again allowed to wait and to have the books. The 
third evening he showed that he expected the same thing, 
so he was put to bed as usual, just as if he was expected 
not to protest, tucked in, kissed "good-night" as usual, 
after having had his bottle of milk, the netting was 
pulled down, the room was darkened, and " good-night " 
was said. He evidently accepted the intended suggestion 
of " no books or gas-light to-night," for he fell asleep 
without a protest. He is trustful and very docile, and 
although naturally self-willed, he generally does just as 
we direct. It never seems to dawn upon him that he 
should oppose any one. For this reason care is taken 
not to provoke opposition, in order to preserve this spirit 
for future need — when absolute and instant obedience 
might be required. (The above portion of the record 
shows very clearly how easily a bad habit might be 
formed by unwise indulgence. Bad in the sense of 
being unwise from a hygienic stand-point, for the neces- 
sity of freedom from mental excitement during the last 
hours of a child's day, and also of a regular hour for its 
bedtime, must be fully realized. It is through little 

43 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

things like this that one gains the control that, later on, 
■will bring loving obedience.) 

While we were out driving to-day Harold saw a lady 
riding by ; he opened his eyes wide and looked after her 
until she disappeared, for he had never seen a woman in 
the saddle before. 

I gave him some sugar on the tip of my finger at 
luncheon. He enjoyed pecking at it for some time, and 
then he tried to bite my finger, laughing heartily each 
time I snatched it away to escape being bitten. 

Last night I found that the key of my bedroom door 
was missing, and I felt certain that he had taken it, for 
every morning he is in the habit of carrying it to another 
room to open a door of which we have lost the key. 
To-day we found it in the corner of a drawer in the 
room to which he went daily with the key. I have 
often wondered whether he intended to save himself the 
daily trip, for he is a sagacious little chap. 

To-day, when making up his crib, I said, " Harold, 
•• bring me the sheet." He looked all about for something 
to bring but didn't know what I meant. I touched the 
sheet without saying anything, and he instantly pulled 
it from the chair and brought it to me. (A quick com- 
prehension can easily be cultivated in children by self- 
restraint upon the part of the mother.) 

September 14th. — To-day he is nineteen months old. 
I said "moon "to him, pointing to it, and he repeated the 
word distinctly several times. Afterwards I returned to 
the window and looked out. He followed me and said 
the word again, remembering it clearly after the short 
interval. Just before going to bed he saw some of his 
books. He said " book, book," and " gas " as I lighted 
it. We then looked at the pictures. Every clock he 

44 



SECOND YEAR 

called by name, and put down his ear to listen. He 
kissed all the pictures of cats and dogs, and said " pud- 
dy" to the pussy pictures and " wow-wow" to the dogs, 
also saying " o-o-o-h " affectionately to each one, as he 
always does to pet animals. 

When it was time, this morning, he was told to call 
his father. He went to his room, as he always does, and 
wakened him in a very gentle, loving way by going to 
his side and saying " hm-m." This morning he made 
a great romp of it, alternately kissing and petting him, 
and then running away. He would then return again 
to the bed, put his head on his father's pillow, then say 
" bye," and run away again. 

He sleeps soundly, and does not want to wake, it ap- 
pears, until his hour for rising, for whenever he is dis- 
turbed he seems annoyed, and falls asleep again as 
quickly as he is let alone. At eleven last night I gave 
him his milk, for which he wakes voluntarily at the 
exact time. I placed him on my bed after turning up 
the light, shook up his pillows, and rearranged his crib. 
I then placed him in the crib, kissed him, said "good- 
night," and drew down the netting. He looked at me 
sleepily, laughed, turned over, and was asleep before I 
had time to open the window and turn down the light. 
"When I go to my room late at night he does not stir. 
I have noticed that when he is well, and eats a light, 
early supper (at five o'clock), he sleeps soundly. The 
least indiscretion at his supper -time, or too much ex- 
citement after five o'clock, invariably causes restless- 
ness. (The record shows the same result throughout.) 

Every morning now he wakes about six, pulls away 
the netting that is over him, and calls me. I ask him 
if he wants some milk. He says "yes," invariably. 

45 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

"When I give it to him, he takes it himself in his usual 
fashion, holding up the bottle with both hands, so that 
the neck is full all the time. When he has had all he 
wants, he hands it back to me, generally saying " hab 
'em." He sometimes goes to sleep again without a 
word, but generally he wants to get up ; if so, he calls 
his nurse, who takes him to the nursery and dresses him. 
He seems to understand that for another hour I am not 
to be disturbed, for he remains with her contentedly 
until it is time to call me, when he is all eagerness, first 
to get me up and dressed, and then to go to his father, 
who usually has a romp with him while he dresses. (It 
is very interesting to note how he accepted the habits 
of the household and adapted himself to them, as, for 
instance, he was quiet for an hour after he was up, and 
then he evidently thought it was time for others to rise, 
for he was heard everywhere. Habit had a great deal 
to do with this, and every one was careful not to disturb 
it by irregularity in his life. The mother claimed that 
he was at any rate much happier by being taught to 
consider others than he would have been had he been 
allowed, perhaps unwittingly, to be a disturber of the 
peace of every one around in the early morning hours.) 
This morning he discovered that he could slide his feet 
on the carpet and sit down suddenly by holding to me 
as he leaned against me. He did it repeatedly with 
great glee. Yesterday he climbed all alone up and 
down the steps on the porch, and he is becoming quite 
venturesome. This week he said " wagon " quite dis- 
tinctly when he saw one of his toy wagons. He also 
says " ice" now whenever he wants us to give him some, 
and broadens the same sound for " eyes." He still sa} r s 
" wat " for water. 

46 



SECOND YEAR 

He says "mamma" and "papa" correctly, but he 
still says "bavy" for baby, "hugar" for sugar, "bock" 
for block, " bot " for bottle. 

For a few days past he has shown temper, kicking and 
screaming when not pleased. I paid no attention to him 
each time that he did it beyond saying "good-bye," and 
going towards the door as he lay on the floor kicking. 
He got up at once and came after me every time, evi- 
dently forgetting all about the disturbance in his fear 
that I would leave him alone. 

He still says "puddy" for pussy. He often says 
" peep, oh !" and plays it on the slightest provocation. 
He claps his hands and tries to clap on mine. He puts 
his finger in his mouth and then offers it to me. He did 
the same thing once when eating sugar with his finger. 
He grows more affectionate every day — runs up and 
touches us, lays his head or hands against us, saying 
"bavy" — meaning himself — in a long-drawn-out, loving 
tone that is indescribable. He frequently kisses little 
Mamie next door. He has selected her as his favorite 
out of a family of six children. 

September 22d. — To-day he said " po-book " for pock- 
et - book, " toes," " pins," and also " water " instead of 
" wat," and " Tottie " for Topsy, his new dog's name. 
Two weeks later he said "han," then "fan," for fan. 

October 18th. — He wanted to sit on a chair that had 
a towel on it. He evidently did not want to sit on the 
towel, so he brought it to me, saying "towel" dis- 
tinctly for the first time. It is curious to hear him use 
words as occasion suggests that we never supposed he 
knew. 

From October 1st to the 21st he has said " goose," 
"cushy" for cushion, and "neeze" for sneeze (imitating 

47 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

a sneeze he heard) ; " baa-baa " when looking at a picture 
of sheep ; " choo-choo walk carry papa " all in one sen- 
tence, when his father went to town one morning and he 
seemed very anxious to go with him ; " scissors," " fork," 
"poon" for spoon; "Gacky" for Jacky, "Tossy" in- 
stead of " Tottie," as at first, for Topsy, and "Bahdee," 
the name of a friend's cat, which we were taking care 
of at the time. 

He also said " hat " and " cuckoo " in one sentence on 

seeing a picture of the child N , who lived in the house 

containing the cuckoo-clock. N had his hat on in 

the picture, which he noticed instantly. He also said 
" hanger " for hammer, and " wet " for the first time. 

October 20th. — He said "winnow" for window, 
"coach," and "horsey moo"; said "moo" to a cow 
also. Whenever he hears the door-bell ring now he 
says "bell." One day recently the electrician was 
here to repair the bell. He was very much interested, 
and watched him closely. Later in the day he said to 
Bridget, " Bishy, stairs bell wats " (meaning he wanted 
'to go down-stairs and watch). This morning he reached 
for his tooth-brush, and said " toot-broush." He now 
says "broush" instead of " bruh," as he did at first. 
Said "baksy" for basket, "pitty" for pretty. 

When he gets cross and cries, we say " JSTo, no, pretty," 
and he repeats " pitty," and clears his face at once, many 
a time looking up smiling with tears still in his eyes. 

He pointed to the moon and said " gas." He also sa} T s, 
now, " buttony " for button, and "knife" and "fork." 
He seems to enjoy saying knife lately, when he sees a 
picture of a fork. He waits for us to correct him, and 
then does it again with the next picture of a fork in his 
pet book, his eyes full of fun. 

48 



SECOND YEAR 

He says " banket " for blanket, and " hummer " when 
he wants to open things. "We cannot find out what 
word he wants to use. We thought it might be " under," 
as he says it when he tries to lift the lid of a jewel-case 
or of a box on the table. 

Recently he said "hair," brushing it at the same time ; 
also "table," lifting the lid of a side-table when saying it; 
and"Bishy," when he saw a picture of a coal-scuttle, 
associating her with the fires she tends. When he saw 
a picture of a stove-lifter he said " hot." 

One night lately, before going to sleep, when alone in 
the dark, he said " Popper, popple — I see you, poppee. 
Bishy, Bahdee, poppee, poppee." We were away from 
home at the time for a few days' visit, and he seemed to 
miss them all. He pronounced " 1 " to-day in clock for 
the first time, and then said it only once. Said " tree '' 
for the first time when out walking. He always says 
"thank you" when we give him anything. A short 
time ago I took something; from a servant without 
thanking; her, and he did it for me. He often does this 
when he notices the omission. 

He says " mell " for smell when he sees my smelling- 
salts. 

Says "pins" and "pail"; "wing" for ring; "dum" 
for drum, and "schlissel" and "key" whenever he 
sees one either in the door or in his beloved journal of 
mechanical illustrations. The latter has a page full of 
pictures of various sizes of keys. We told him a key 
was a "schliissel" in German, and he has called the 
book his " schlissel book " ever since. 

He said "wide, Mamie," the other day, for "ride, 
Mamie," when he saw a girl on a tricycle. He is accus- 
tomed to seeing Mamie P on one when he is at home. 

D 49 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

This month some one gave him a pack of cards with 
a picture of a dog on the back of each one. He will say 
"good-night" and kiss each dog as he puts the cards 
aside when he is done playing with them, sometimes 
kissing every dog in the pack. 

He says " pool " for spool, and repeats many words 
after us very distinctly. One morning he heard a clock 
strike, and said " cuckoo," recalling the cuckoo-clock we 
saw last summer. We are still at his grandma's, and he 
says " ganma " for grandma. 

November 1st. — We are home again. To-day I told 
him to come to the nursery window to see the sunshine. 
He came, saying "tuntine," and all day he said it at 
intervals, lifting the curtain and looking out at the same 
time. He also said it when he saw some tin-foil with 
which he was playing. (For many months he called 
tin-foil sunshine.) 

November 2d. ■ — He counted three, four, five, six, 
nine to-day voluntarily. Some time ago his nurse 
counted a few cards for him, saying, one, two, three, 
"four; he at once picked up three and four, saying 
" fee " for three, and ever since he has called his cards 
"fee -fours." When we count them for him he says 
six as soon as we say five ; also ten after we say nine. 

November 3d. — Instead of repeating or counting with 
us, he said the above numbers himself. (The record 
shows exceptional interest in numbers later on.) 

When hearing a baby cry, he says " poor bavy." 

Hearing the question, " Have you used Pears' soap ?" 
suggested to him to say " Sares' soap," and during the 
day he often comes to me, saying " good - morning " 
and " Sares' soap " without waiting for my answer or 
question. 

50 



SECOND YEAR 

He now says " tsain " for chain, " wain " for rain, 
"cacker" for cracker. One day he tore his dress, and 
pointing his finger at it, said " o o-o-h." 

To-day — November 4th — he said, "seepy" when 
yawning ; also " seepy boy," and " here it is." 

He said " there it goes " when eating something, and 
when holding up an envelope he said " paper." 

November 6th. — Said " house " to-day, while building 
blocks. He also called " Carrie " (a visitor) when he 
woke up, and looked in the next room for her. It is 
very amusing to watch him running to her with open 
arms, saying " comes," meaning " here he comes." This 
morning he said " here he comes " when pushing his 
foot through his clothes when dressing, and he also said 
"here it goes" when eating some stewed celery at dinner. 

November 7th. — He said "foot clock" to-day, point- 
ing to the feet of a clock ; " apple-butter "; and he said 
" seepy " again when yawning. 

On Monday, when looking at the picture of the " pig 
who had roast-beef," he said " dinner — funny." 

This week he has acquired the following words, in 
the order given : " say so" ; " rats " ; " cheek " ; " cake" ; 
" cook," for crook, in " Little Bo Peep " ; " bucket " ; 
" whistle " ; blowed. "When he saw a gentleman's comb 
to-day he said "papa." He said "papa's room," on en- 
tering it when returning home after a week's absence ; 
said " crib " when going into his own room ; and called 
" Bishy " when he saw her. Said to Bridget, " Bell 
bwoke, fix it." When I told his nurse he had gained 
half a pound, he repeated " half a pound." 

November 12th. — To-day he said " stick through," put- 
ting a stick through a hole, and he said "shovel" vol- 
untarily. When bathing him this morning in the large 

51 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

bath-tub, I took his head and nurse took his feet and 
we floated him. He showed no fear, but let himself rise 
to the top of the water. Next time he took his bath I 
took his head, meaning to do it again, but before nurse 
could help me he said " hand — foot " to her, intimating 
that he was ready for it again. 

November 13th. — He said "finger" to-day, for the first 
time, taking mine in his hand and examining it while in 
bed this morning. He put his head on m} T pillow also 
and said "pittow." Later in the day he said " wats 
(watch) sand goes." As he said it he picked up some 
sand in a glass and poured it in a basket. I had just 
come in from a walk, and after showing me the sand 
he turned to the table and said " table." 

November 14th. — New words to-day were : " Knock, 
Bishy"; "Sit down, Bishy." He begged for "crook" 
when going to sleep, thinking of "Bo -Peep"; also 
begged for my " hand," and said " find," " get," and 
" skate," " show it," " corn," " beans," and " take." 
; November 15th. — He said "sweetheart" to-day, pro- 
nouncing it " sootheart." He says it to his mother 
when going to sleep; for instance, he will say, "mam- 
ma's sootheart," in a loving tone. To-day he said 
"play — sing" to his father, pulling him to the piano, and 
he laughed as if pleased when he sang for him. He is 
always eager to hear him sing. 

November 16th. — He said "pittow" again to-day for 
pillow when reaching for one. After breakfast he said 
" Dear papa, good luck," when his father left for town. 
Afterwards he said "Dear papa, good papa" once, and 
the next time when he came to "good" he hesitated a 
moment, and then said " luck," and he has said it vol- 
untarily in this way ever since when his father leaves in 

52 



SECOND YEAR 

the morning. He always shakes his head up and down 
when he says " luck." He also said " knock" to-day and 
" oh, my !" 

On November 17th he said " tummer - glass " for 
tumbler. 

On November 19th he said " ladyle" for lady, when 
speaking to Claudia, a visitor. He has also said " well, 
well" ever since her arrival, which is a frequent expres- 
sion of hers. He said " come " to me after taking his 
bottle of milk, indicating at the same time that he want- 
ed to go to bed. He awakened in the evening and said, 
on hearing his father play, "play — papa," instead of 
saying " papa is playing." 

November 20th. — His new words to-day were " mu- 
sic," "yard," "nice boy," "ah," "ma-am," "say what," 
" what's that." For some time he has said " nice — good 
— ah !" when eating something he likes. He shakes his 
head when he does this. 

This morning, when in the dining-room, I handed him 
a little cloisonne plate that belonged in a certain place 
on the table in the next room. As I handed it to him 
I said, " Take it and put it where it belongs," which, 
he did very carefully, and then returned to his toys. 
He seems to understand many more words than he says, 
and uses them only as occasion requires. I often try 
him in this way, to keep him in the habit of obeying 
cheerfully, not because I want the thing done. 

November 21st. — This morning he took his doll and 
hugged it, saying all at once, " seep " (sleep), " eye " 
(pointing to the eye), "hand" (taking it up in his), 
"foot" (taking it up), "ear" (touching it), "mouf" 
(touching it), " head " (laying his hand on its head). 
Then I put a feather in its hair, but he put it away and 

53 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

said " no." Later on he put it in himself. Yesterday 
he found this same feather among his toys, and, recog- 
nizing it as belonging to his stuffed owl, he lifted it up 
and said, in a very lugubrious tone, " oh — owl." 

November 22d. — He said "fwend" twice to Claudia 
to-day. She often saj^s to him, ""We are great friends, 
aren't we, Harold ?" He evidently appreciates her cour- 
tesy, which she always shows delightfully to little chil- 
dren. 

When he awakes in the morning he often lies still 
and amuses himself by looking around the room and 
repeating the names of ail the things he knows, as "but- 
ter" (shutter), "gas," "door," "picture," "bed," "crib," 
pointing to each one as he says the word. His capac- 
ity for self-amusement when he has the right materials 
is increasing every day, and his physical development 
is quite normal — a little beyond the average in height 
and weight. 

One day he saw a picture of a chair tumbling, and 
children falling from it. He pointed to the chair, which 
stood on one leg, and said, " rock, rock." He took 
hold of one of the leaves of a screen soon after, moved 
it, and said, " Swing — go." 

November 23d. — He said " papa " to-day for the first 
time, having always said "baba" before. He also said 
" fix-pence " when he saw the song " Sing a Song a Six- 
pence" ; he said " tar" to "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" ; 
" seesaw," when we reached "Margery Daw "; " Horner, 
plum-pie" for "Little Jack Horner"; and he often says 
" son " only for " Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son." "When 
in looking over the book he comes to "Ride a cock- 
horse to Banbury Cross," he says, " "Wo, get up ; rings, 
fingers, toes, cross." He always says "girl — naughty " 

54 



SECOND YEAR 

for " Dolly, you're a naughty girl," as if that fact im- 
pressed him most. 

For " Little Bo - Peep has lost her sheep " he says 
"Peep, crook," and he sings out "Dolly — wow-wow" 
for " I had a little doggy." 

He said "lose" for the first time recently, when some 
money was dropped, as if he wanted to say it would 
be lost. Something with which he was playing rolled 
under his toys, and when he hunted for it he said 
"find." He also said "mouthful" for the first time. 
When he heard a cornet and chorus singing one morn- 
ing from a mission Sunday-school near by, he looked 
up to me and said, for the first time, very distinctly, 
" moosic." 

He found a shoe-button among a lot of buttons with 
which he was playing, and he tried to put it on his shoe 
where the buttons are, saying " shoe" as he did it. 

When later in the day he heard a child singing, he 
looked up and said " moosic " for the second time. An 
unusual noise outside of his room caused him to stop his 
play and say, "What's that?" as if startled. One day 
recently he repeated after me " body busy," when I said 
" You keep a body busy." 

This morning he said, " Bangy boy, Bishy dear, 
poppee kill kito." JSTo doubt trying to show Bridget 
how his father had killed a mosquito, with what he 
called a " bang." At another time during the day he 
said "Well, well!" then, "Porch, head, hat," pointing 
to my head; as if he wanted me to take him on the 
porch. This evening when he saw the button-box he 
asked for it twice, saying " buttony." I said " No," 
and gave him a box of bottle-tips. He put these aside 
and said "No, buttony." He cried and stamped a lit- 

55 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

tie, but I took no notice of it, and presently he took his 
little wagon and showed it to his nurse as placidly as if 
nothing unusual had occurred. A few days ago he took 
up a small clock and looked at me questioningly as he 
did it, because he had been told not to touch it. I said 
" No, no ; put it down." He did so, and as he came away 
he said " Nice boy" emphasizing boy. I frequently tell 
him he is a good boy, when he obeys pleasantly. He is 
evidently able to draw his own conclusions. 

For the last few days he says " Thank you, mommy " 
— to his mother — instead of " Thank you," as he used to. 
He looked at a picture of some children tumbling from 
a chair to-day and said " fall." He has learned to drink 
from a glass without assistance, and he does it very well, 
but with great care. He is accustomed to seeing me 
pour drinking-water from a carafe into his glass. This 
morning I found him at the table with a glass before 
him and the carafe in his hands. He had removed a 
temporary cover, and had poured some water into his 
glass, and seemed very proud of the achievement, just 
as in the instance above, and he rarely comes to grief. 

November 2ith. — He said "chappie shobel" when 
asking his father for the grate shovel this evening to 
play with his beloved buttons. He delights in shovelling 
them up as if they were coals. "When I took him up to- 
day from his nap and rocked him a while, he said to me 
" Kock-a-bye baby on top." He also said " Well, well !" 
again. 

When I came in this morning to see if he had finished 
his nap, he said " wake," as if to tell me that he was 
awake. He had been lying there quietly waiting for 
me. He shows this serenity always when well. When 
he was going to sleep to-night he said, in his usual retro- 

56 



SECOND YEAR 

spective manner, " I see you, poppee ; I see you, ladyle 
(meaning Claudia) ; I see you, gamme (grandma) ; I see 
you, Carrie ; I see you, mommy," etc. Then he asked 
for his milk, took it, and said " nice boy." Before com- 
ing up-stairs to go to bed he was at table with some one 
who amused himself by saying " Ach, himmel !" to the 
boy and hearing him repeat it. After a time he repeated 
it three times to himself, just as he always does with new 
words, and it was amusing to hear his efforts with "ach," 
which word he said correctly. 

To-day he said "N " when he saw some poker- 
chips for the first time since the summer, at which time 

he saw them at the house of N 's father. He heard 

me tell his father this evening that he had said " top " 
to-day. He instantly said " tree-top." He says to him- 
self sometimes " naughty boy," as if he thought he was 
doing, or being tempted to do, something forbidden. 

November 25th. — To-day he said " all gone " when he 
reached the end of something he was eating. His new 
words were " piece of corn," " come, Harry," " did he ?" 
"hoop!" And to-night when going to sleep, he said, 
" I see you, poppee; I see you, toys; I see you, fee-fours 
(cards) ; I see you, Bahdee ; I see you, Bishy ; I see you, 
goose." It is very curious to hear him go over the day's 
amusements just before he falls asleep. 

November 26th. — Twenty -one months old to-day, 
when some one said, "low — high or low," he came run- 
ning to my room, and called " Lou ! Lou!" confusing low 
with Lou. He brought a screw -driver that he found in 
the sewing-machine drawer in the nursery, and he did 
not want to give it up when I asked for it, so I simply 
said, quietly, but as if I expected him to do it, " Take it 
back, and put it where you found it," for we always 

57 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

tried to avoid forcing an issue when a disposition to ob- 
stinacy showed itself. He went to the machine at once, 
put the screw-driver in the drawer, and took out a knit- 
ting-needle, but as he did it he looked at me as if to ask 
whether he might take it. I said " No, no," and he in- 
stantly pushed it back, shut the drawer quickly, and ran 
away just as if he didn't trust himself near temptation. 
I have noticed this trait frequently. (The record shows 
that when he could talk and tell how he felt under simi- 
lar circumstances, he thought it best to go away from 
temptation.) 

Several days ago he discovered a door to a closet in 
a writing-desk. He opened it and saw ink-bottles on a 
shelf that he could reach. He wanted to take them, but 
I said " No, no ; shut the door," which he did. This 
morning he opened the door again, and his father feared 
he would take up the bottles and spill the ink. I said, 
"I think not. Just watch him." So I said, very quietly, 
but suggestively, " Shut the door, dearie, and go away." 
Jle did it at once, very much, to his father's surprise, 
saying, as he went, " Nice boy." 

One day he picked up from the desk a closed box of 
cigarettes. As he held it he accidentally let it fall, 
and the cigarettes fell out, thus letting him see what 
the box held. He then took up another closed box of 
them, and wanted to pull the cigarettes out one by one. 
I said "No, no, dear," but he tried to get my consent 
two or three times 'by touching them as he held the 
box, looking inquiringly at me. Each time I quietly 
said " No, no," as if I knew he wouldn't do it, and 
the last time I said " Put them on the desk," which 
he did. He obej^s us at all times, but we must give 
him time to adjust himself to what he is to do, and 

58 



SECOND YEAR 

we must speak very quietly, as if we expect obedi- 
ence to be the most natural thing to happen. I had 
a little trouble to teach him not to touch things in the 
dining-room, and for a time we seriously considered 
placing things out of his reach, but eventually concluded 
it would be better to stand some loss of valued articles, 
if necessary, than lose an opportunity of showing him 
in every direction in his life that he must learn to re- 
spect the rights of others. The servants and I therefore 
kept following him up, saying " No, no " whenever he 
touched anything, and offered some pleasant diversion 
each time as the next thing for him to do when we led 
him away. It was really very amusing. The shining 
glass and silver seemed to possess a great fascination for 
hhn, and we frequently found him standing before a tea- 
set of highly colored china, each piece of which repre- 
sented a piece of fruit. The teapot was shaped like an 
apple, the handle looked like the branch. This piece 
seemed to attract him in spite of his evident effort to 
keep away from it. He would stand before it and touch 
the lid in a very cautious manner, lift it up gently, and 
put it down again, and then go away. I watched him 
do this several times. Once I found him out after he 
had been there alone, for later in the day I discovered 
the lids interchanged. Eventually we succeeded in 
teaching him to keep from touching anything that 
didn't belong to him, but the collisions of will were 
sometimes diverting. 

An effort was always made to refrain from speaking 
sharply to him, nor was any one knowingly allowed to 
do so, consequently he trusted all who were about him. 
(The record shows how, when he was eight years old, he 
attempted to conceal some of his actions that did not 

59 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

meet his own approval, and when gently led to tell his 
reasons, he said, with a burst of tears, " I am afraid of 
them all !" meaning those who were about him at the 
time, and who noticed and criticised his actions — with 
the natural result of reaction on the child. Before this 
he had usually confided even his smallest faults to his 
mother, not fearing her.) His nurse is very gentle in 
her manner, and she succeeds wonderfully in diverting 
him quickly from what she anticipates will be likely to 
give the little fellow trouble. She possesses faithfulness, 
intuition, and quick comprehension, and although not 
an educated person, she has many qualities that are 
valuable for assistance in nursery-training. She is per- 
fectly truthful, mild in manner, always cheerful, tidy, 
and playful, and understands perfectly how, and is will- 
ing, to carry out directions just as they are given, which 
quality is absolutely necessary in a person to be trusted 
with the care of children. This morning she put him in 
his crib for his nap, with an exact imitation of his 
, mother's manner of handling him, gave him some milk, 
and then turned to do something else. He drank the 
milk and then turned to watch her for a few minutes. 
She paid no attention to him, but finished what she was 
doing and left the room quietly. He turned over, and 
no more was heard of him until after nap -time. Had 
she spoken to him he would have tried to keep awake, 
as he often does, and in all probability he would have 
missed his nap. This plan was invariably followed, the 
mother interchanging with the nurse, in order to keep 
him equally accustomed to both. Thus the mother could 
be given the freedom required in the evening at dinner- 
time, without disturbing the child in the least, and he 
was as well satisfied with the nurse, when sleepy, as 

60 



SECOND YEAR 

with the mother. (It may mean self-sacrifice, many 
times, to reach this end, for it is very dear to any mother 
to feel that her child prefers her ministrations to those 
of any one else, but, for the child's sake, this feeling should 
not be indulged in to too great an extent. When a nurse 
loves her charge, she should also have some of the hap- 
piness incidental to the care of the child, and be able to 
win its love, that, in case of illness of either child or 
mother, her assistance may be of value.) 

He said, this morning, " Mommy, Bishy lof," meaning 
he loved her. He hugged her as he said it. He shows 
daily how much he loves her. (I have always found it 
safe to judge a nurse's manner during the absence of 
her mistress by the evidence of affection given by the 
child. It will invariably be a reflection of the surround- 
ings, for a fearless child is always a mirror of others.) 

To-day, when he saw the illustration of the fat spider 
in the " Spider and the Fly " song in his nursery-book,* 
he said " Sider, fatty, ha-ha." He seems to enjoy in- 
tensely anything that will provoke laughter, and he is 
usually a merry little soul. 

Recently he took a number of things out of the draw- 
er of the kitchen-table, saying " What's that ? What's 
that?" to everything he didn't know, but said "spoon," 
" fork," " knife," etc., to those he did know. At last he 
found an old steel that was used some months ago to 
crack ice. He remembered this at once, and said, when 
he saw it, " Bishy, cack ice." 

This evening he did not feel very well, and he begged 
his mother to stay by him. She remained, lying down 
beside him and holding his hand while singing to him. 

* Elliott's Mother Goose. 
61 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

He kept asking for his pet songs, one by one. "When she 
thought he had had enough to quiet him, she said " good- 
night," and stopped singing, still lying quietly, however. 
He soon said to himself, "Mommy seep," turned over, 
and fell asleep. 

November 27th. — His new connections of words to- 
day were "knock, Bishy," and "piece of buttony" (for 
button). This afternoon he knelt by his mother who 
was lying on a couch, and said, "Ah, mamma's sute- 
heart" in a very winning way. These voluntary tokens 
of love are quite usual with him. 

November 28th. — At midnight last night, when rest- 
less, he said to his father, " Poppee stay, carry boy." 

November 29th. — As he put something in a hole to- 
day he said, " Stick it in." He constructs sentences very 
often now. When his nurse came in he said, "Carry 
boy." He said to me to-day, "apple — fork," and showed 
them to me. When I asked him where he got the 
fork, he said, " tappie (chappie) — table " — meaning on a 
^table in his father's room, where I remembered it had 
been left last night. 

November 30th. — To-day the new words were " pretty 
well," " smart," " shadow." 

December 1st. — New words were "pull up sleeve," and 
"wing" (of a bird). 

December 11th. — " Come, Bahdee (to his pussy) ; Bishy 
bring Bahdee." He said " big ring, noder one," to some 
one who was making smoke rings for him when smok- 
ing a cigar after dinner. At one o'clock in the night 
he waked and said immediately, " big ring, noder one," 
as if there had been no interval. 

He said to-day, December 12th, while playing, refer- 
ring to one of his nursery songs, " Taffy — tief — beef — 

62 



SECOND YEAR 

home." He seems to think of these things while he is 
doing other things. 

Said " o" and " d " (from letter-blocks) to-day, and also 
said " lap," " lappie — bangie — boy." We can't find out 
what he means by " bangie." 

From December 14th to end of the month he has 
said "pencil"; "gettie pencil"; "find more"; "ice- 
Avagon " and " street car," when seeing pictures of the 
same ; " Santa Caus," omitting the " 1 " ; " bottles," for 
nine-pins; "pick it up"; "put it away"; "picture"; 
"pipes," when he sees any one smoking, or if he sees a 
pipe in any one's mouth ; " letter," " letter-man," when 
he hears the door - bell ring ; " pinage " for spinach ; 
"masala" for celery; "teakettle — coffee," when he 
sees a picture of a teakettle ; " put it down " ; " Ger- 
mantown"; and "my name is Harold." When I say 

" You live at No. ," he instantly says the name of 

the street. He speaks of me as Mrs. H , and uses 

my name correctly. We always teach him any change 
of address by direct teaching, that he may, if lost, tell 
where he belongs, and we have always impressed upon 
him the fact that all policemen are his friends and are 
meant to help people, especially when they get lost. I 
often hear him try to persuade a little friend who is 
afraid of policemen to like them. 

To-day he said, " Tom, Tom, saw pig run, eat beat how- 
ling steet" for (street). He was evidently thinking of 

"Tom, Tom, the piper's son, 
Stole a pig and away he run," etc. 

Other words that are new are " hello," " hello, dear," 
" gamme boy," " screw," " Bahdee scatch " (when pussy 
scratches), " ach himmel," " gesundheit." He still says 

63 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

"neeze" for sneeze; "down-tairs, Bishy "; says "bot- 
tle — seepy," when bedtime comes ; " get a coach," when 
he wants to go out-of-doors; "gamma — choo-choo," in- 
timating that he wants to go to gamma's (grandma) on 
the choo-choo. He remembers that he went on the train 
some months ago on a visit to her. 

January 14th, 1892. — To-day he said " Happy Xew- 
year" three times when looking at a holiday-book. He 
then turned to his mother, kissed and hugged her, and 
said " lufly mamma." 

He sa^ys " Santa Claus " now, pronouncing the "1." He 
takes his Santa-Claus book and explains all the pictures — 
as, for instance, when he reaches the one where Santa 
is sitting reading the names of children, with pen and ink 
on the desk before him, he says, " Santa Claus reading, 
desk, gif me pencil," holding out his hand to the picture. 
He often asks for "pencil — write" (pencil to write), 
and makes an O. He calls a big O a " fatty O." He 
knows W, X, H, I, O, Q of his block-alphabet, and he 
says X, Y, Z from repetition, but does not know them 
when he sees them. 

He saw sleighs to-day for the first time. He heard 
his nurse say "sleigh" in the morning, and when out in 
his coach later in the day he said " sleigh, noder one," 
as they passed him. Since the above date he has picked 
out pictures of sleighs in his books, saying "sleigh, noder 
one," whenever he finds one. 

January 15th. — His new words to-day were "here 'tis," 
" kitchen — outside," " missee morning " (for misty morn- 
ing), "how do, sir?" "shut ee eyes." "When he stum- 
bled he said " fall." 

January 18th. — Last night, after he had waked and 
taken his last bottle of milk, he said, " Mommy's pwe- 

64 



SECOND YEAR 

cious boy," rolled over, and fell asleep. He is at his 
grandma's. He took her hand to-day, and pulled her 
into the next room, saying, "hand — gamme's hand." 
Last evening, as he was finishing his six-o'clock meal of 
milk, he discovered letters on the bottle when he held 
it up between his eyes and the gaslight. One of the 
words had two o's in it. He pointed to one and said 
" o," then pointed to the next and said " noder one," 
then cried out in delight, "dubble u," meaning "w." 
He said it as if he was very much surprised. He then 
found D, S, K, and I, and repeated them over and over, 
as if glad to see them, first of all, however, pointing out 
each one to me with his little finger. As I am writing 
this he is in the kitchen, and I hear him at the knife- 
drawer saying "fee — fee knife," meaning three. He 
always says "fee — fee" when he means to say there 
are more than one. He often counts correctly from one 
to fourteen. I can hear him now as he is going around 
the rooms exploring, saying " window, parlor window," 
and no doubt he has met a rocking-chair, for I hear him 
say " rock-a-bye, rock." 

When he reached the station he met his cousin and 
called him by name, although he had not seen him for 
four months. Later he said " gamme " when he met her, 
knew his cousin's father at once, calling him by his first 
name as he hears others do. After a little investigation 
he said " Carrie " to one member of the family, and after 
quite a while he said " Alus," for Alice, to another. He 
said " fraid dat," pointing to a rolling-top writing-desk. 
(Here following out indications given before of being 
afraid of some things that work with a motive power 
that is to him incomprehensible.) 

The plumbers were at work in the kitchen this morn- 
e 65 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

ing. He heard the puffing of the Bunsen burner when 
he awakened from his nap, and said, " See ee choo-choo 
in ee kitchen," and could hardly wait to get there. He 
amused himself for a time to-day by pushing his coach 
around the room, but first he moved two chairs very 
carefully out of his way in order to have the entire 
length of the room open for the coach. 

When he was asked if he wanted a piece of bread, he 
said " Yes," and voluntarily went to the pantry, opened 
the door and bread-can, took out a loaf, and brought it 
to the person who asked him, who cut a piece from it, 
and returned the loaf to him without a word. He re- 
turned it to the can, closed both it and the door, and 
returned, when he was given his piece of bread. 

January 19th. — To-day he heard something fall with 
a loud noise. He said, "Break ee house down." Two 
new sentences were : " Pull down ee sleeve, mommy," 
meaning his own ; and " Please, Carrie, take out ee 
key." When he awoke this morning he said, " Kitch- 
en, gamme," meaning he wanted to go there, where he 
was allowed perfect freedom every morning. 

He uses all sorts of expedients to get his mother up 
mornings as soon as he wakes. Says, " Get up, mom- 
my — dess, dess Harold, mommy"; "want ee dink"; 
" mommy up, kitchen "; " see gamme "; and then he 
calls " Carrie, come," as loud as he can, for she generally 
comes in at this time and romps with and dresses him. 
When at last his mother does get up and dress, he sits 
contentedly awaiting his turn. He says, trying to do 
it at the same time, " Put ee shoes on, Harold — put ee 
shoes on." Then he says " petticoats," when they are 
put on; "Put on dess" next; then, "Brush ee teeth," 
" Brush ee hair," "Wash ee mouth," and at last he turns 

66 



SECOND YEAR 

up his face for a kiss, saying " Clean enough ?" He takes 
the greatest interest in every little thing relating to the 
care given him. 

January 20th. — To-day he wanted to take the dust- 
pan to bed with him when he took his nap. I took it 
away, saying " No, no." He kicked and screamed, but 
I took no notice of it. At last he said, " Too bad ; 
shame !" — repeated it several times, then took my hand 
and fell asleep quietly, with only one more cry for the 
dust -pan, following it immediately with "Too bad; 
shame !" 

January 21st. — To-day he said, "Dance a baby diddy" 
(from nursery song) ; also said "spider," when he saw the 
inside of a big clock ; and then he said " Fatty clock, see 
clock ticking." No doubt he associated the big clock 
with the big spider he called " fatty spider" in the nurs- 
ery song-book, for he calls a big O a fatty O. 

January 22d. — To-day he picked up a tin bread -can 
that was standing on the pantry floor, carried it about, 
and suddenly began to turn his hand around, as if turn- 
ing a handle, and say " musilay," meaning music, and that 
he was imitating 1 a hand-organ. 

January 23d. — We came to town for the winter a 
few days ago. Harold and his nurse came in on a later 
train. Ever since he has said, repeatedly, " Sarah, take 
Harold lufly choo-choo"; "bell ring, choo-choo"; and 
every time he sees a possible chance of going out he 
says, " See a choo-choo ?" He was given a very com- 
plete toy locomotive last month, because he has shown 
such great interest in engines of all sorts. He instantly 
detected various differences between his engines and 
those he saw about him in his daily walks,, and he did 
not hesitate to mention them. He asked questions about 

67 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

every part he observed after this, wanting to know the 
names of all of them. In a very short time he was heard 
saying to his nurse, " This is a piston-rod," or " This is 
a cylinder," or " This is an eccentric," etc. He was told 
each name once only in answer to his questions. 

He was taught, in Germantown, when asked where he 
lived, to give his name and his street-number. Last even- 
ing we began to teach him his new address, his name, 
and street in Philadelphia, and he repeated it several 
times. This evening we asked him where he lived and 
what was his name. He said, "Harold — Gimmintown," 
and then, as if a new idea had struck him, he said in 
one sentence, "Fil a duffia, Locust Street — choo-choo — 
Filaduffia." 

A few days ago he began saying "Use Pears' soap," 
instead of just " Pears' soap," as before. "We often ask 
him, for fun, " Have you used Pears' soap?" 

To-night he said, "Papa, play — play 'Annie Eooney.'" 
He speaks very distinctly for so young a child. 

January 24th. — To-day, when playing with his toys, 
ne voluntarily counted one, two, three, four, five, six, 
seven, eight. 

Later in the day, when taking off my street shoes, I 
asked him to please bring my shoes, without specifying 
which pair he should bring. He went to my closet and 
selected a pair of low russet shoes that I frequently wear 
when at home. He certainly observes much that one 
ordinarily considers unnoticed by a child. 

This morning when I came into his room before he 
was out of bed, I found him playing with a toy " choo- 
choo" that could be wound up to run. He had no 
string with which to wind it up, and he evidently 
wanted one, for he had untied the ribbon at the neck 

68 



SECOND YEAR 

of his night-gown, and was trying to wind it up with 
that. 

He has begun to say a few French words : " bon soir, 
bon nuit," from imitation, but he knows what they 
mean, and his pronunciation is very good. 

January 25th. — To-day he begged me to " carry down 
cellar to kitchen to Annie," meaning the colored janitress 
in the basement. She has a bird with which he is de- 
lighted, and which he evidently wanted to see. He 
often asks for something that we find later on brings 
him something else that he wants but doesn't ask for. 
It seems hardly probable that he does it designedly, yet 
it is a curious coincidence at times. 

January 26th. — To-clay we were out walking. As we 
neared Broad Street the wind blew hard, directly in his 
face. I said, " Turn around, Harold, and walk back- 
ward." He did it at once, much to the amusement of 
some passers-by, who stood still and watched him. He 
seems to comprehend very quickly that I have a good 
reason for asking him to do certain things, and even if 
they may appear a little unusual at the time to another, 
to him they seem to appear to be natural. 

January 29th. — -To-day he said to his nurse (who is 
not the one to whom he has been accustomed, but an 
old colored mammy), " Good-bye, honey." Other sen- 
tences were, " Mannie sit down, showee schlissel book ;" 

" See ee mannie ;" "Mommy, good boy;" "Harold 

good boy" (saying his whole name); "Carry, Bishy, (to) 
lovely choo-choo." He said "Geen choo-choo" to-day, 
saying "geen" for green — the first time for this word. 
He was hunting a little green engine at the time and 
couldn't find it. Other sentences were, " Where's ee 
dram?" "See ee musee-man, winnow." 

69 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

January 30th. — To-day, when in the bath-room, he 
said, " Baf pitty soon," no doubt anticipating his even- 
ing bath. As we passed the bath-room door he said, 
" Baf-yoom ; wash ee hands." He also said, " Fraid ee 

doctor," when he saw Dr. , who lives next door. 

He said it at intervals all day. (The record shows that 
he never learned to like the physician mentioned, cried 
when he approached, and could not be induced to even 
talk to him. He was a very stern man, and cruel to 
children, as later developments proved. A curious thing 
about the child shows clearly all through the record 
that he knew instantly when meeting persons whether 
they liked him or not. Servants could not be kept with 
comfort to the little fellow when he had shown that he 
thought they didn't like him, and it was always found 
advisable when engaging a servant in any capacity to 
first have him see the person, and watch his manner 
before engaging them. In this way some exceptionally 
faithful servants were secured. His usual expression in 
this connection, as he grew older, was either " I don't 
like her face," or " Has she a smiling face ?" One day 
in a store he begged me to ask a certain cash-girl, with 
" such a lovely face," to come home to him. (His own 
words.) He couldn't understand at first why I couldn't 
do it, for it was his mother's habit at the time to regu- 
larly engage a child to play with him daily, to keep 
him from becoming selfish — a fault easily acquired by 
an only child. 

To-day some one spoke very suddenly to him when 
he was playing, to check him instantly in something he 
was just beginning to do. He looked up with a start 
and said, " scairt." 

January 31st. — He still says his name instead of say- 

70 



SECOND YEAR 

ing I, when speaking of his own actions. He said to 
himself to-day, as if trying to recall something, " What 
name ? — Harold — in Gimmintown." 

When out walking the other day we passed some bill- 
boards on Broad Street that were covered with pictures 
of engines. He was delighted with them, went up to 
them, touched them, and admired them to his heart's 
content. He didn't want to leave them, but I induced 
him to come on to something else that appeared to at- 
tract him. He kept on talking about them, however, 
after we had left them, and to-day, when I took him out 
on the balcony for an airing, he objected at first and 
said, "Out choo-choo fence." This is the first time I 
have heard him say " fence." 

His new words to-day were "cellar," "kitchen," "Ba- 
vinia" (for Lavinia — a servant down-stairs), "clothes- 
pins"; and this afternoon, when his mother attempted 
to feed him some ice-cream, he said, "Mommy way, 
George feed." (George was a servant.) 

February 1st. — He used I for the first time to-day. 
He is almost two years old. He said, " I use Pears' 
soap"; "I see choo-choo out." Then he said, "Hug 
mamma, oh," squeezing her hard as he said it. He also 
said " I want you, baby," in his play to-day. 

February 3d. — He began making funny faces a few 
weeks ago when he said, " Hoop a loop, who's in the 
soup V Now he makes the faces at me and laughs. He 
often looks laughingly at me and winks one eye. He is 
always very jolly. This morning he begged me to " go 
out and see man carry leg." I couldn't think what he 
meant, but discovered later that he had seen a man on a 
crutch yesterday, and was very much interested. 

He now uses a great many words very intelligently — 

71 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

as, for instance, when he says the words, " coming," 
" won't come," " here it goes," " here it is." There is 
always an intelligent application. To-day he found a 
doll that he calls "Tommy" lying in a box of toys 
and covered with a cushion. He said at once, in what 
seemed to be a tone of reproof, " Tommy seep all day 
in box." 

This morning he said,"Poppee, get up— eight o'clock;" 
and at breakfast he turned to his father and said, " Papa, 
shame !" We couldn't find out what he meant, but he 
very often says, "Too bad, shame!" when anything goes 
wrong. I recognize the words as used occasionally by 
his nurse, from whom he has no doubt learned them. 

Late this evening, when he woke for his milk, he said, 
" Too early," evidently meaning it was not time to get 
up, for I sometimes say the same words to him, if by 
chance he wakes in the morning before daylight. It is 
probable that his first thought on waking was that it 
was time to get up — and seeing it was yet dark, he con- 
cluded it was " too early." 

February 4th. — He said to-day, " I love ee choo-choo," 
while he was hunting in Puck for a picture of one — 
which he found eventually, having seen it there before. 

He was given recently a book containing pictures of 
various kinds of locomotives. At first his comments were 
not noticed, but gradually we became impressed with the 
fact that he was saying, as he turned from one page to 
the other, "This one hasn't any bell" ; " This one has a 
bell"; "This one hasn't any cow-catcher" (it was an 
English engine) ; " This one hasn't any bell " — noticing 
the differences right through the book between the 
American and the English engines pictured there. At 
last he closed the book, turned to his mother, and said, 



SECOND YEAR 

" Mamma, I want an engine without any book." He 
wanted the object instead of the picture. 

February 5th. — He put a ribbon round his neck and 
said " necktie " to-day. He is constantly acquiring new 
words, with no teaching whatever. For about two weeks 
he has said, " Show me book," show me this, or that, as 
the case may be, instead of saying, as before, " book," 
etc. This morning he called to his father, " Poppee put 
on clothes — poppee, please put on clothes." (The record 
shows that he was always eager to be up himself and get 
every one else up, and later on he wished a number of 
times that there wouldn't be any night, because the days 
were not nearly long enough for what he wanted to do.) 

To-day I brought his coat and cap, and prepared to 
take him out. He ran away from me. I asked him if 
he wanted to go. He said "JSTo," went to the sewing- 
machine, and said, " Want to see machine go." He had 
not seen it open for several weeks. He shows indica- 
tions now of preferring in-door play, which we are trying 
to counteract by finding inducements to keep him in the 
open air a certain portion of the day. 

February 6th. — This evening he was playing with his 
father when his bedtime came. He said, pleadingly, to 
his mother, who came to take him to bed, " Mommy, go 
away," but he said it as if he did not expect it, and went 
with very good grace, as he always does when accept- 
ing the inevitable. We always give him a little time to 
get over the disappointment of a refusal before exacting 
obedience. 

Last night he wanted his bottle of milk, to which he 
has been accustomed, but which for the last few nights 
we have withheld. He cried a little, saying " What's 
the matter?" rolled over, and fell asleep. 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

He said " I think so " to-day, when answering a ques- 
tion. 

February 7th. — To-day he said, "Mommy, get the 
bottle ready"; "won't come" (meaning the milk won't 
come. There was good reason for this, for the bottle 
was empty, he had taken it all). He then said, " Never 
mind," and went about his play. He always seems to 
accept the inevitable in a cheerful manner. When his 
father came in to-day, Harold said to him, in an effort 
to induce him to play with him, " Poppee, make chains 
(of paper rings, with which he and the nurse often 
amuse themselves) ; poppee, sit down floor, cushion, 
make big dubble-u (W) ; poppee make big X." 

February 8th. — I heard him say to himself to-day, 
" Cry it out. Behave yourself." He has often heard 
me tell him to " cry it out on my lap," when he is 
grieved, and he must have heard some one tell him 
to behave himself, and he put the two together to-day 
when he thought he needed the admonition. 

He also said to one of us this morning, " Poppee use 
Pears' soap ? hear dat." These little sentences pop out 
at us at all sorts of unexpected times, and they amuse 
us very much. 

"When going to New York this week he said on the 
train, " Choo-choo, lovely choo-choo. I love choo-choo." 

February 9th. — Yesterday for the first time he said 
" you " instead of saying " mommy," as usual when 
speaking to her. He said " Mannie talk to you," in- 
stead of saying, as he did formerly, " Mannie talk to 
mamma." Sometimes he calls himself " mannie," some- 
times " man." 

February 10th. — As his mother was taking off her 
street dress to-day he pulled her to the closet and said, 

74 



SECOND YEAR 

" Put ee cless on." "When she puts an apron on he al- 
ways objects, and begs her to " take off apron." About 
a month ago he cried because she put a jacket on over 
her house dress on a cold morning. He said, " Take ee 
sacque off, mamma," and persisted in it. He must have 
some idea for this, but I have not found out yet what 
it is. 

"We are still in New York ; arrived yesterday, and the 
long trip must have tired the little fellow, for he said on 
his arrival, " I'm so glad to go to bed." "When half-way 
over he said on the train, " Express-man take away trunk 
to-day," and when, on our return, he saw it brought 
back, he said, " Express-man bring ee trunk." 

To-day when sitting on a bed he intimated that he 
had disturbed it. I said " Oh no." He said " Yes, nice 
boy ?" (interrogatively). I said " No." He said " Nice 
boy, / sink (think) so." (The record shows how he of- 
ten said, when a question of opinion would arise, " I 
think so," as if that settled it in his mind. Such a char- 
acteristic, if properly guided, should develop into a sturdy 
self-respect and strength of individual opinion, without 
in the least encroaching upon or antagonizing the opin- 
ions of others.) 



CHAPTER III 

THIRD YEAR. LANGUAGE AND OTHER INCIDENTAL 
DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED 

February 15th (at home). — Harold is two years old. 
He just said " See ee Lollie (meaning Mollie) sew dess, 
nice dess." She made a dress for him some time ago 
that pleased him very much and which he seems to 
prize very highly. He begged me to-day to "take 
down-tairs see big clock tick -tick." He saw one in 
New York, and is confused about it, for there is no 
" big clock" here. He called " Delia" several times to- 
day (a house-maid he saw in New York), and he also 
called for his aunt, as if he could not quite reconcile 
himself to the fact that he was no longer there. On the 
way home he saw a lady on the train who resembled 
his aunt's mother and he called her " grandma " several 
times. For many days he has asked questions about 
how there could be another grandma, for hitherto he 
has only known of his maternal grandmother, and he 
could not understand for a long time that his aunt's 
mother was his cousin's grandma and not his. He is al- 
ways very friendly with strangers when travelling, and 
appears to fear no one when their faces please him. He 
invariably smiles or speaks to some stranger when out- 
of-doors or when travelling. He said this morning, 
" See ee Lollie take ee coffee next yoom." He had seen 

7G 



THIRD YEAR 

his aunt have coffee in the room next to his when he 
was in New York, and he evidently thinks he is still 
within reach of her. 

February 16th. — When he saw a picture of a coffee- 
mill to-day in his "schliissel book," he said "ganma." 
He had seen one for the first time at his Grandma 

S 's. He sometimes says " ganme" and at other 

times "gamma." When he said "ganme" to the cof- 
fee-mill, I asked " Is it Ganme H ?" alluding to his 

cousin's grandma. 

He repeated her name and looked doubtful, then said 
again, " Ganme, ganme put ee coffee in." I then said 

" Ganme S ?" questioningly. He looked relieved 

and repeated it. He is evidently still puzzled over hear- 
ing of two grandmas. His maternal grandmother only 
is living, and until he heard his cousins speak of their 
grandmother he had heard of one grandmother only. 
(He was very curious, when a little older, about the de- 
grees of relationship in one family, and I had many 
questions to answer.) 

Yesterday he said, " See a Mary go — winnow — da- 
da," shaking his hand to her from the window as she 
went away. 

After having had a crying -spell to-day he said 
" Shamed himself." 

February 17th. — To-day, when he saw a man from 
the window, he said "Uncle Hed" (meaning Ed). I 
looked out and saw a man resembling his uncle very 
greatly. 

Yesterday I took him to see Dr. A . He had not 

been there for two months. When we reached the 
street door of the physician's house his face changed, 
and he said, crying, " Harold fraid, hurts me." He kept 

77 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

repeating " f raid, hurts " all the time he was there, and 
cried until he reached the street again, when he in- 
stantly became serene. About thirteen months before 
this date this physician lanced his gums, and ten months 
ago he vaccinated him. He remembers one or the other 
occasion, probably both. 

February 18th. — To-day I showed him an illustration 
with the song " Twinkle, twinkle, little star." He in- 
stantly said " Dr. Tar," meaning Dr. Starr. 

This morning he said to his father, " Good-morning, 
glad to see you." He said to me yesterday, immediately 
after his nap, " Feel tired, rock a bit," and snuggled up 
in my arms and let me rock him. He is not very well 
to-day. This may have had something to do with his 
desire to be rocked yesterday, for he rarely asks for it. 

He has always shown a great willingness to put away 
my shoes. I never thought of it before, but I remem- 
ber now that he is always ready to put away my street 
shoes and to get my house shoes. I have concluded 
this is because he knows I will stay at home when I 
wear the latter, for to-day he refused to put away my 
house shoes when he saw me put on my street shoes. 
When I came home he called me at once to the closet 
and pointed to my house shoes. I took them out and 
placed them by the couch, then turned to do something 
else, forgetting to put them on. He took me by the 
hand, led me to the couch, and said, " Sit ee down bed, 
put ee on shoes," as if afraid I would go out again. I 
did so, and before I had said a word he took away my 
street shoes and put them in the closet. He has evi- 
dently reasoned out for himself that when I wear street 
shoes I am likely to go away from him. 

February 19th. — This morning when he awoke he 

78 



THIRD YEAR 

said immediately to me, " Wait for poppee last night." 
So he had. It seems to be his greatest pleasure. To- 
night, when ready for bed, and after having taken near- 
ly all of his milk, he handed me the bottle and said, 
very insinuatingly, "Put away ee bottle, see ee poppee." 
I paid no attention to this, so he went to sleep. Last 
evening when he began taking the milk, he said, " Put 
in hot water." I thought the milk wasn't warm enough, 
probably, and was about to do as he asked when he sat 
up and said, " See ee poppee." I knew then that he was 
trying to get me to let him wait for his father, so I 
gave him the bottle, told him quietly to take it and go 
to sleep, as if I expected obedience, and he did it con- 
tentedly. 

February 20th. — He said this morning when his father 
left for town " Fraid ee papa take ee choo-choo go to 

see Aunt M ." This evening, when his mother was 

lying by him as he went to sleep, he said, " Get up, mom- 
my, too busy." I suppose he remembers hearing her 
say at some time that she was too busy to lie down by 
him while he took his nap, for he often asks her to do so. 

February 21st. — To-day he wanted to go out and, as 
he said, to " see a mannie frow a bricks away." 

Two weeks ago he said, " Go ee out see ee choo- 
choos on ee fence." This morning he said, as he put a 
picture of an engine on a chair before him, " Sit on ee 
chair, talk to choo-choo." He also said, to-day, " Tell 
me what's it." He says, at times, " Mommy like ee boy 
squeal," when he makes the noise he calls " squeal." 

He loves to hear his father play the violin. He said 
to him this evening, " Poppee play ee violin — please pop- 
pee play ee violin." When his father took the instru- 
ment out of the case and began, he said, " Shut ee box, 

79 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

poppee," reached out and shut it with a bang, saying, 
" Harold shut ee box," as if glad it was shut. It looked 
very much as if he were afraid his father would put the 
violin away too soon. 

February 22d. — He said to-day, " This is a knuckle,*' 
closing his hand and pointing to the knuckle. Two 
days ago he pointed to a knuckle on his father's hand 
and said, "What's dat?" He was told it was a knuckle, 
when he promptly made a fist and pointed to his own. 

He asked me to go down-stairs, saying, " Carry Har- 
old down to Bavinia, see ee bird cellar." Another 
new effort for to-day was when he tried to hang a 
thermometer up above the mantel and said, " Hang ee 
up mantel-piece." 

February 23d. — When he heard a neighboring fac- 
tory-whistle this evening he said, " Hear it whistle six 
o'clock." 

When talking of a clock he said, "I go see it six 
o'clock " (his usual bedtime). When he was screaming 
to-day he said, " Mannie make a noise." 

He was trying to find a big ring carved in the mantel 
this morning. The mantel was draped recently, so the 
ring was covered. When hunting for it he said, " Find 
big O. Harold find it. Big O go to sleep," and then 
when he had discovered it he said "I find it." Then 
he dropped the curtain and said, " O gone to sleep." 

He is very fond of his new nurse, Annie — an old 
colored mammy. To-day he said to her, " Open closet, 
build a house." His blocks are in the closet. A few 
days ago, when asking for a drink, he said, " Drink fresh 
water." 

He is very fond of Mrs. A , who is a neighbor at 

present. This morning when she came in he climbed 

80 



THIED YEAR 

on the chair before her, dangled his legs, and said, 
" Harold sit on chair, talk ee lady." She began to talk 
to him and asked him what he wanted to say. He 
looked at her very shyly and said, "Lof lady." He 
calls her " ee lady up - tairs," and often begs to go to 
see her. 

February 24th. — To-day he said at various times, 
" Did she take 'em out ?" (alluding to some action of 
his nurse in regard to some toys) "lufly wheel," and 
"lof Dr. T ," meaning a physician who called re- 
cently to see him. 

He wanted a book of photographs this morning, 
which he called " Uncle Henery's book," because it con- 
tained a picture of his uncle. He said " Mamma, give 
Harold pictures," then said to himself, " Ash mamma 
gib Harold pictures," as if approving of his method 
for getting them. 

He said to Annie to - day about a broken toy, " I 
thought you fixed it." He also said, " Hang it up on a 
nail," pronouncing the " g " hard when saying hang. 

Another sentence was "Bring ee chair see ee mom- 
my sew." 

This afternoon he was very much interested in watch- 
ing a fox-terrier over the way while its owner was teach- 
ing it to jump over the fence. He said, " See mannie 
jumpit dog." When I directed his attention to the dog, I 
said, " What is his name ?" He said " Germantown dog," 
remembering his own fox - terrier which he had at 
Germantown six months ago. 

February 25th. — He saw the reflection of the gas- 
light to-night on a dark-colored bottle, and he called out 
instantly, " Gas on bottle." 

His mother wanted to use something to-day to which 
F 81 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

be objected, and he said, " Mommy no use dat, put 
away on mantel-piece, mommy go away." 

His new words and sentences to-day were : " No, I 
like piggy slippers " ; " See him put a bread out " ; 
" Mommy write " ; " I got it " ; " Harold hold it — glass- 
water," when holding a glass of water, of which he 
seemed very proud. 

February 28th. — This morning on waking he said, 
" What time is it, mommy ?" "shave," " poppee shave," 
"is gone to shave." Later he said, "I must fix it; too 
bad break teakella (kettle) again" (alluding to a toy- 
teakettle). 

When we say " Do you like Dr. E ?" he says 

" No." " Do you like Dr. A ?" " No." He has 

unpleasant recollections of both of them that could not 

have been avoided. " Do you like Dr. F ?" " Yes." 

He (Dr. F ) has been very pleasant with him during 

a recent slight illness. " Do you want to see him V 
" No." (Because he fears he may have to do something 
unpleasant when he comes. If convinced that nothing 
of this kind is to be asked of him, he is alwa} r s ready 
for a chat and a romp with him.) He sometimes says, 
as if to reassure himself, "Mommy won't hurt you, 
poppee won't hurt you, doctor won't hurt you." 

To-day he said, while playing and puzzling over some- 
thing he did not understand, " On odder side. What's 
dat? I can't find it— on odder side" ; " I think so " ; " Did 
you fix it ?" " Did you stick him ?" " Whack, piggy," 
when hitting his wooden pig. He also said, " Shoot 
Tommy " to-day to his doll. Said to me, when going to 
bed, "Take it off— the shoes"; "Take it off— the slip- 
pers " ; " Poppee put on shirt, put on trousers, an' take a 
baf " ; "Annie, take it off." 

82 



THIRD YEAR 

Before going asleep he said to me, " Glad to see you," 
" Sweet enough to kiss," which I often say to him after 
washing his face. He also said " Good-afternoon," and 
this evening he said " Just one light burning " when he 
saw the other lights lowered that he might sleep. We 
asked him how many gaslights were burning in the 
room. He said, correctly, " One, two, three gases." 
When carried through the next room he said, again cor- 
rectly, " Just one gas burning." Afterwards he noticed 
the light of the Bunsen burner and said, " One — two 
gases." We asked him if there were any more. He re- 
plied, " I don't see it." There were none. He is evi- 
dently going to be cautious in reaching conclusions. 
(The record shows this is true.) 

When his father was ready to leave for the day, with 
coat, hat, etc., he said, " Good-bye, papa, go out steet." 
He always says " steet " for street. To-day he said, 
" Bring out the cars." He said " the " twice to-day, in- 
stead of " ee " as usual. He also said to himself, " Is 
dat funny ? Dat is funny." 

He said to Annie, before she put him in his crib, 
" Annie, lie down on mommy's bed and hold Harold's 
hand." His mother often does this when he is falling 
asleep, and as she was not there at the time, he tried to 
induce Annie to do it. He said, to-day, " See clock on 
wall tick-tock-ticking." Also, " Listen to the gas," as it 
flared, and to his father, " Poppee, smoke pipe, make 
rings." When on his father's lap watching him making 
rings, he discovered cigars in his waistcoat-pocket. He 
grew alarmed, said, "/ not near them," and insisted on 
sitting on his mother's lap to see the smoke rings, glanc- 
ing from time to time, as if afraid, at the pocket holdiDg 
the cigars. 

83 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

To-day, pointing as if with a gun, he said, " Bing, 
shoot bird." When Lavinia's canary was brought up to 
amuse him he said, " Poppee, buy new bird." Then he 
asked me to sing "Moller Goose — fol — la — three — birds," 
meaning the song of 

"Three crows there were once 
Who sat on a tree, 
Fal-la-la-la-la-la," etc. 

I think I sang it over at least two dozen times. He 
kept repeating, " More — birdie listens" pointing to La- 
vinia's bird, and kept time with his finger, sometimes 
singing with me. It had not occurred to me that he 
wanted me to sing for the bird. He was ill at the time, 
and I sang because I thought I was pleasing him. 

To-day he said " Oh, mercy !" twice, at intervals. He 
heard his colored nurse say it. He also said to me when 
I was at the piano, facing him, however, " Turn around 
and play good moosic.'' He says " Mommy's precious 
boy," " mommy's pettie boy," " poppee's darlin'," when 
asked whose boy he is. 

When he wants me to sing he specifies now, saying, 

" Sing ' Jack and Jill,' " or " Sing ' Little Bo Peep.' " 

When we go over "Mother Goose" together, he says 

some of the words and I say the rest, and wait for him 

to say his. In this way we go over the entire book. 

He seems to know them all very well, although he is just 

two years old. The following are his words for " Jack 

and Jill": 

" Jack — Jill — hill — water, 
Down — crown — after 
Got — trot. 

"Caper — bed — head — paper 
In — grin — plaster 
Vexed — next — disaster. " 
84 



THIRD YEAR 

He waits for me to say some words, just as if he 
wanted me to have a turn — not as if he didn't know 
them all. 

This evening he said, " Dink water, baf — sim (swim) 
baf-yoom." 

"When he hears the door-bell at breakfast - time he 
says, " letter-man," and " gib ee letter." He says to me, 
questioningly, " Want ee coffee ?" He also says " bread- 
and-butter." Once he asked for " nice bread-and-butter." 
When he has junket for dessert for dinner he says, 
" Junket, lufly junket." When he gets rice-pudding he 
says, " Kice-pudding day." 

He says " tomach " for stomach, " kib " for crib ; and 
says, distinctly, "medicine," "piano," "violin," "work- 
ing," " stocking " (although he often drops the s), " Santa 
Claus," " tongs," " sugar-tongs," and " spoons." He says 
" pockee-book " now, instead of " po-book," as he used to. 

March 1st. — To-day, while he was trying to go to 
sleep, he said to me, as I came into the room to get 
something, "Shut the door; Harold go asleep." I left 
quickly, and he was soon asleep. Later in the day his 
mother sat down to darn some stockings, when he said, 
" Mamma, don't sew papa's stockings ; hang it up." 

To-day I let him look at a photograph of himself that 
was taken in July last with his dog in his arms. He 
looked at it intently, suddenly turned, and said, " Where's 
the bell ?" I remembered then that six months ago, in 
October, we had tried to get a good picture of him, 
but failed, and one only was finished, in which he held 
a bell. Harold saw this bell in the one finished pict- 
ure, which we sent away at the time it was taken. He 
hasn't seen it since, yet asked for the bell to-day, when 
looking at a different picture. 

85 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

To-day he called to his nurse, " My nice Annie." 

This afternoon he was busy playing with a little play- 
mate. I thought I could steal a nap, and threw myself 
down on the couch. He said, instantly, " Open ee eyes ; 
no shut eyes." I was so sleepy that I closed them un- 
consciously, but every time he would call out, plead- 
ingly, " No shut eyes." 

This evening he said to his father, " Papa, play violin " ; 
" Papa sit down eat ee supper." To Annie he has said 
for over a month, " Annie, build a house wi matches." 
(This is a favorite occupation of his with safety-matches. 
He will amuse himself a half -hour at a time with them). 

This evening we asked him if he loved Dr. A . He 

said " Luf Dr. A ." "We asked him again, and he 

said " No." Then we asked him if he loved Dr. T . 

He said " Yes, love Dr. T ." We are trying to get 

him to forget his unpleasant recollections of Dr. A , 

but he seems to remember too vividly to forget easily. 
To-day his mother wanted to dress a cut with antiseptic 
lint, and he said, " Mamma, put ee cotton way." When 
she picked it up again he said, " Put it on Annie fin- 
ger," as if his finger was to be spared. Then he said, 
as she took the salve, "Mamma won't hurt Harold wi 
grease ; papa won't hurt Harold ; doctor won't hurt 
Harold ; doctor put satchel way. Doctor come in, see 
soldier picture," which he thinks is a great pleasure (one 
of Detaille's). 

At dinner this evening he said " Papa, gib some 
pease " ; " Papa, gib Harold crust " ; " piece of crust " ; 
" good crust" ; " nice crust." To-night he said, " Put ee 
stockings on, go see papa in next yoom," when I took 
them off to get him ready for bed. He is full of little 
ways of pleading to stay up at night with "papa." 



THIRD YEAR 

"When going to bed to-night he said, in his usual 
pleading way, " See papa eat oysters next yoom." This 
afternoon he said " I must find it," emphasizing must. 

March 2d. — He said, to-day, "Harold sneeze"; also 
" Too bad ; Harold broke it." 

I gave him a small music-box that had a handle simi- 
lar to a winding tape-measure, and at first he called it 
a " tape-measure." 

March 3d. — His new sentences to-day were, "Put 
this on the top," and " Stand up and look at Bridget," 
to a picture he saw in a fashion paper that he called 
Bridget. 

He made H, X, and A with matches, and told me 
what letters they were. We sometimes give him a box 
of safety-matches to build letters with, and it pleases 
him very much. At times he asks for them, but does 
not get them. This evening when he received the box 
he took out all the matches, shut the box-slide, hit it to 
make sure it was shut, and set it aside in a very decided 
way, as if to say, " Now I have the matches, I shall do 
as I please with them." He then built houses, letters, 
and engines, and amused himself for a long time. 

A short time ago he saw a picture of a screw-top glue- 
pot in a journal, and said at once, in an excited way, 
pointing to it, " What's dat ?" I said " A glue-pot." He 
looked at it doubtingly for a while, then said, very de- 
cidedly, "That's the doctor's; doctor won't hurt you; 
don't like bottle doctor." I then noticed that the bottle 
resembled an ether-bottle used once when etherizing him. 
When I asked him where he had seen a doctor's bot- 
tle, he looked at the end of the mantel where the one 
used had been standing. He then said, although it was 
his beloved "schlussel book," "Put the book away; 

87 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

don't like the doctor's bottle." He asked for it again, 
however, after a while, as though it had a fascination 
for him, yet he showed apprehension when he saw the 
picture. 

When he heard some one moving in the hall later on 
in the day he started and said to me, " Doctor won't 
hurt you." Had his mother thought he would notice 
and remember so much she would have cautioned the 
physicians and have saved him much nerve-strain. It 
is a mistake no doubt often made, for knowledge so 
often comes too late, and children suffer. (The record 
shows that it took more than a year for the child to re- 
cover from the nerve-strain, which could all be traced to 
the fact that he was allowed to be in the room while 
preparations were being made to etherize him. These 
facts may serve to illustrate where physicians and sur- 
geons may make a few practical deductions from child- 
study.) 

He said, to - day, to his mother, " See birdie sleep, 
mamma; hang it up, gas"; "Tommy kiss O's, kiss choo- 
choo," putting the letters and engine to Tommy's mouth. 
(Tommy is a stuffed rag doll). He then said, in a reflect- 
ive tone, " Tommy's face very dirty." Dr. A had said 

the same a few days before, and Harold said it as if, now 

that he came to think of it, Dr. A was right. He 

then said, " Tommy sit up," trying to make him sit. He 
accomplished it, and eagerly said to me, " Harold made 
Tommy sit up." This evening when he saw a picture 
of a tape-measure he thought of the music-box he had 
received recently, for he asked at once, " Mamma, gib 
Harold musila-box." She gave it to him, turning over 
another page of the book as she did so. He turned the 
handle of the music-box and said, " Find tape-measure." 



THIRD YEAR 

She turned back one page again to the tape-measure 
picture, and he looked for and saw that it had no handle, 
so he looked about the room and said, " Mamma, find 
other tape-measure," signifying he wanted the one we 
used that had a handle. He saw the points of resem- 
blance, yet knew each thing for what it was. 

He has said " sterilized " distinctly for several weeks. 

He said to-day, " Soldier picture ; sing to soldier pict- 
ure," the one of Detaille's alluded to before, of which 
he is very fond. 

He spoke of snow the other day when he saw it fall- 
ing. 

This evening he asked, " How many gases burning V 
When we reached a picture in the Iron Age of a large 
stationary engine, he said " What's dat ?" I said, " Ma- 
chine." He repeated the word, looked at me, then said 
" machinery " twice. How he learned it I do not know. 
He must have heard some one say it in this connection. 

For several days he has said a number of times, " Mam- 
ma, take him arms." He does this when he does not feel 
very well, and it always makes her watch him closely 
that she may try to correct any disturbance before it 
goes too far. 

He wanted his " schliissel book" this evening, and when 
his mother gave it to him she said, " Tell mamma you 
are her darling boy." He hugged her, and said in a tone 
of great affection, " Mamma's darlin', preciotcs boy." 

March 4th. — He said to-day, " This is a knife to cut 
some bread," pointing to bread -knife. He also said, 
" Papa dress too" the first time he has said too. Said 
" bing " for bring. 

He said to Kate, a visitor, " Love Kate, sit down on 
Kate's lap, tired of sitting on Annie's lap." 

89 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

Other sentences at this date were: "Mommy's good 
boy"; "Stella (a playmate) not here to-day"; "Bring it 
up the spoons, Stella;" " I love it, the boy," alluding to 
little Walter, with whom he played occasionally ; " Shut 
this window." 

He put one of his father's bamboo canes in a hole in 
a chair this evening, and amused himself for a long time 
making it go up and down and bend. 

He said to Annie to-day, " Annie write to Susan, gib 
ee dis one pencil, write to Susan." She told him a few 
days ago that she must write a letter to some one called 
Susan. He said to me to-day, " Thank yon, put away 
nice little gas-light," returning to me a gas-burner I had 
given him to play with. Then he said, " Mamma, try to 
reach it, mantel-piece." 

As soon as he hears a piano, even if it is next door, he 
asks for his toy piano, and begins to play. 

March 6th. — A new sentence to-day was " Stand up 
and wind the tick-tock up." 

One day recently, when not well, he said, "Just a 
while lean on here" (meaning my shoulder), "Annie's 
arms break." She must have complained in his hear- 
ing of her arms being tired or being ready to break. 

To-day he had spinach for dinner, the first time for a 
month. He recognized it, and called it " pinage." 

His new sentences to-day were: "Write Baby Mc- 
Kee"; "Where's it?" and "No, got enough," when asked 
if he would have more of something. 

He also said again to-day, " Doctor won't hurt you, 
table." 

An old servant called Bridget brought him a balloon 
to-day. He seemed afraid of it, and said, " Don't ee like 
ee Bridget ball. Needn't go near it. Hang it up." He 

90 



THIRD YEAR 

has not seen her for six weeks. At first he looked shy 
and turned away, but turned back again, and looked at 
her as if glad and surprised, sa}ang " Bridget."" 

He said to his father to-night, when he went to bed, 
" Good-bye, papa, until to-morrow, see you again." 

This evening as I sang about " Good-night to birds," 
he sang " Good-night, Bavinia's bird." 

March 7th. — To-day he said, " Got a pain in tummach, 
mamma." At night he begged to lie in " mamma's 
bed," and was ill all night. He cried constantly, " Take 
him, carry him in mamma's arms, walk floor." 

March 9th. — This evening at dinner he picked up a 
piece of cr.ust lying by his father's plate, tasted it, said, 
" Don't ee like ee papa's crust, want a drink," and said, 
also, " Get a spoon and feed him " ; " Harold feed him- 
self "; "Want some meat"; "Want some juice" (roast- 
beef dish gravy) ; " Want some tato," and so on, as 
each dish appeared. As he grew sleepy he said, as if 
afraid she wouldn't do it on account of dinner, " Mam- 
ma, take me ; lie on mamma's bed, hold hand." 

He began lately to say, in a conscious way after mak- 
ing a remark, " Hear dat, papa?" Every one began at 
once to be more careful, and the servants were cautioned, 
for fear he would lose his unconsciousness, and results 
justified this care. He has now no thought as to how 
his words appear to others. 

He said to-day, " Fraid ee mamma sew, put ee down 
ee needle." Also, " Fraid ee mamma go away ; fraid ee 

papa take a choo - choo go to see Aunt M , New 

York." 

He goes over a pet journal of mechanical illustrations 
in a curious way. He has some association with each 
picture. When he saw a poker, the name of which he 

91 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

did not know, be said " Bishy," meaning a servant he 
had seen using a poker ; when he saw a stove - lifter, he 
said " hot " (he may have found that out by experience, 
for he sometimes gets into the kitchen). His favorite 
illustrations are a page of screws, one of keys (after 
which he calls the book his " schliissel book," for we told 
him the German word for key), and a very complete il- 
lustration of a locomotive, but he will sit contentedly, 
turning over page after page, and talk to himself about 
all the pictures. He does this also with Mother Goose, 
and seems to know nearly all of it, sometimes humming- 
snatches of the melody, but he prefers the " schliissel 
book," and finds something new in it every time he looks 
it over, and is always eager to show me his discoveries. 
It is astonishing to see how he amuses himself from 
morning to night when we do not confuse him with too 
many things. One time we give him blocks, another 
time take him to the kitchen and let him reign until nap- 
time, when cook gets a chance to tidy up again. "When 
there, he will go from one utensil to another, point to 
them, and say " What's dat ?" 

Every evening now he sa} T s to his father as soon as 
he is in the house, " Papa, play ee violin," and while he 
plays he will rest quietly in his nurse's arms. When 
his father stops playing, to go to dinner, he says, " Put 
ee violin seep." He found somewhere a fan shaped 
like a violin, and an egg-beater that he uses as a bow. 
He calls these " my violin," and goes about the house 
playing and singing at the top of his voice. 

Yesterday I held him up at the window to see a chute 
coal-wagon. He looked at the men taking out the coal 
for a while, and then said, " Make ee wheel go round." 
I didn't know at first what he meant, but afterwards I 

92 



THIRD YEAR 

saw them lower the cart, and understood. I had not 
noticed the wheel before. 

This evening I gave him a bottle of milk that was a 
little bit warmer than he is accustomed to. He instant- 
ly handed back the bottle after touching it, and said, 
" Put his bottle in the cold." He often says " his " now 
for " ee." 

To-night, when giving him a mustard foot-bath, he 
protested, and lifting his feet out of the water said, 
"Don't like ee mustard." He heard me tell nurse to 
put the mustard in. Probably if he had not heard this 
he would not have noticed the difference, especially if I 
had diverted his attention when doing it. 

March 11th. — This evening he said, in about one hour 
after receiving a toy violin, " Daden's bow ; poor bow 
fell!" (to his own when it fell). "Mommy sing 'A 
Maggie pet.' Poppee don't want to play violin." Then 
to his own, "Sweet violin, nice violin, lovely violin; mam- 
ma kiss violin, Harold kiss violin " (doing it). " Don't 

want Dr. A to play violin." (This doctor lanced 

his gums when he was teething.) When told he was to 
go to bed, he said, " No ; Harold must play violin. Go 
clock " (meaning go see clock). " Harold go to bed ? I 
t'ought so. Pretty violin. Oh-h-h, is it broket again ? 
Where is the oder piece ?" (when a peg fell out). His 
mother said, "Can't you find it ?" He said "No. Come 
find it, mommy ; come find it, mommy ; find tick to 
Harold's violin." Then he said, meditatively, " Poppee 
don't play piano. Mommy don't play violin" (noting 
difference, as usual). " Poppee's violin in big box." 
Then, after seeing something about the violin that made 
him point and exclaim " W " very eagerly, he went to 
bed as if he had to go but did not want to. 

93 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

This evening he said, "Feed children supper. Poor 
children cry; I get it. I get Moller Goose" running to 
the next room to get the book to bring it to me. I never 
looked to see to which song he alluded. He broke his toy 
violin after dinner and said, " Poppee fix it." When his 
father returned it to him he said, voluntarily, " Thank 
you, papa. Harold play violin." 

March 12th. — This morning he said to his father when 
he left, " Good-bye, poppee ; see you soon again " ; then, 
" Mommy, get violin " (meaning his own) ; " daden's bow 
next yoom; fraid ee poppee put it seep next yoom" 
(again meaning his own, fearing his father had put his 
away with his own). 

To-day, when looking over a puzzle-block game that 
had a large picture of an engine on the box-cover, he 
found a small piece of the engine inside, which he 
promptly called " little choo-choo," pointing to the bell 
on the piece at the same time, and saying " ting-a-ling- 
a-ling." He then said, eight times in succession, " big 
choo-choo, little choo-choo," again noting difference. 

When dressed in the morning now he goes to the 
door and calls, " Annie come and talk a you." She asked 
him who gave him the engine. He said, " Mamma bing 
it this muding," (morning). Sometimes he says words 
correctly, and at other times he does as above — i.e., say- 
ing " muding " for morning. He is not corrected, for we 
want him to find out for himself from observation the 
correct way to pronounce words. When he asks the 
names of things he is told carefully, and we see that 
he says the word correctly, but what he learns himself 
we let alone. We want to find out how much he can 
absorb from surroundings without direction. So far he 
has learned a great deal through his own activity. He 

94 




NO DATE DRAWINGS 



A, stand-pipe ; B. folded paper frame for drawing of boat ; C, machine-stitching for frame : D, 
stationary wash stand ; E, flag-man ; F, wheel turning round. 



THIRD YEAR 

is never at rest, brain or body, and it keeps us busy to 
see that be has sufficient diversion without confusion to 
occupy him from morning to night. So far as is possi- 
ble, routine is depended on for all that must necessarily 
be done — i.e., feeding, naps, going out, bathing, and bed- 
time — and we find that he takes all of them as incidental 
to what appears to him to be his great occupation — i.e., 
play. (The records show that he was never happy unless 
occupied — always asking, " What may I do V when he 
could find nothing himself, and but a few words of sug- 
gestion were necessary, as a rule, to send him at once to 
a new occupation.) 

When he awoke to-day from his nap he was fretful 
until he thought of his violin. Then he was happy, and 
wanted to stay home with it instead of going out in his 
coach. His mother let him take it down to the door 
with him, and diverted him sufficiently to take it away 
when he left. It might have been wiser to have openly 
taken it away, offering something in its place, for he 
cried as soon as he missed it. As soon as he came home 
he asked for it, and said, " Fraid a mommy take it way, 
violin." He then asked me to " play it and sing fiddle," 
meaning " Hey diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle." 

To-day he said he had a pain in his " tummack," and 
asked for his medicine (soda-mint). When he had fin- 
ished taking it he took the spoon and said " More ; 
Harold feed himself." He evidently likes the sugar in 
it, and I fear the pain is imaginary. He has shown an 
inclination several times to use sophistry in getting me 
to do something he wants very much, so hereafter I 
shall try to let him know that he can have things for 
the asking only, and trust that he will ask for what 
may reasonably be granted. (The record shows that 

95 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

this method corrected his sophistical efforts to a great 
extent. Some one may have said something in his hear- 
ing to impress him with the fact that an inducement 
must be offered to get certain things, but I think he has 
reasoned it out for himself that he gets certain things 
under certain conditions — as, for instance, the soda-mint 
sweetened when he says he has a pain. The only other 
times we have noticed this inclination have been in the 
morning, when he tries to induce us to get him up very 
early, or at bedtime, when he wants to stay up longer 
than his usual hour. We are generally deaf to his en- 
treaties at each time, but we are quite accustomed to 
hear him say in the morning that he wants all sorts of 
things, each one calculated to make one rise — as, for in- 
stance, "Want a drink," which he knows he will get, or 
"Harold hungry," etc. He is not allowed to get up 
before seven, for we want him to have the habit of 
waking and rising regularly, and his hour of waking 
has gradually been regulated from five to half-past six 
in this way, and we will soon reach seven, by simply 
chatting and playing with him and giving him a drink 
of milk and his toys, but insisting on his remaining in 
bed until seven. Such training is of value, especially 
when travelling, for he will sit contentedly and amuse 
himself without disturbing his neighbors. 

To-day he had two pitchers to play with, and poured 
a little water from one to the other. He said to me in 
a tone of great delight, " Harold pour." We risked his 
getting wet to give him the pleasure — and, as in every- 
thing he does, he showed care. 

This morning we went out for a walk. Before we 
started he asked to go to see the " choo - choos on ee 
fence." I promised to take him there, but allowed myself 

96 



THIRD YEAR 

to be diverted from doing so at once. When we were sev- 
eral blocks beyond the " choo-choo " street, he evident- 
ly realized that we had gone too far, for he turned 
about and said, " See choo-choos !" When we returned 
and reached the place, we found that the posters had 
been covered with others, much to his disappointment, 
which I tempered by directing his attention to some- 
thing attractive beyond ; and as we passed a provision- 
store he was delighted to see some dressed turkeys 
hanging there, and called them " roosters." 

This afternoon he crept down half a flight of stairs, 
unaided, when following his nurse to the bath-room. 
As he did it he no doubt remembered that he had been 
told not to do so, for he called, in a very insinuating 
way, " Good-bye, mamma," as if he wanted very much 
to go, yet felt it was not quite right. His mother hon- 
ored this feeling in him and let him alone. 

This evening he asked for a piece of candy. I sup- 
pose he calls "flake manna" candy because it tastes 
sweet ; yet I do not know how he can have any con- 
ception of candy except from hearsay, for he has never 
eaten any. I gave him a piece of the manna and he ate 
it, then asked for more. I said "No." He then took up 
a quinine-chocolate that he had refused to take before, 
and asked to lie on mamma's bed to eat it, and ate it 
all. Then he came to me and asked again for " more 
piece of candy," as if he thought I would be so pleased 
to see him eat the chocolate that he would get the man- 
na as a reward. Hard as I found it to deny him, he did 
not get it, for he must do what is right without being 
bribed, and he must learn that he must not attempt 
to bribe. (This is a great evil in training children, both 
at home and in school. Using bribes, marks, honors, or 

a 97 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

anything of the kind, should not be allowed until a child 
has reached years that bring with them some judgment 
as to the real value of things. A child should learn to 
do a thing because it is right in itself to do it, not be- 
cause some one else wants him to do it, and he should 
see by example that those about him follow the same 
rule, then doing right will become a life-long habit.) 

March 13th. — This morning when dressed he said, 
"Mamma draw the curtain las night six o'clock ; Harold 
go asleep. Hear dat, papa?" as if proud of going to 
bed so early. To-day it snowed, and he said, " See — 
the snow falling down !" He put his finger on the re- 
flector of a speaking-tube to-day, moved it, and called 
Lavinia so that she heard it. 

"When his father was dressing this morning he said, 
" Papa, put clothes on ; what coat, trousers ?" opening 
the door of the closet and looking in as he spoke, as if 
he wished to know which to get for him— showing, as 
usual, his desire to help others. 

March 14th. — Said " Fool ee Annie dat time " to his 
nurse. She often says to him, "Fool Harold !" when she 
plays with him. 

One morning when he was trying to get his mother 
to rise, she showed a strong disposition to lie down again 
after having risen. He called out to his father, in a 
tone of great apprehension, " Fraid ee mamma lie down, 
papa." Poor little chap, he seems to feel the responsi- 
bility of getting us up in the morning, and, as every one 
but himself is up late at night, it is pretty hard work. 

March 15th. — This evening at dinner his father said, 
jokingly, "Will you have some of the edibles?" He 
replied, " Don't like edibles." 

March 16th. — To-day he said, " Mamma, lift ee in ee 

98 



THIRD YEAR 

arms see horsy, see bird-cage." Also, when his father 
left with a travelling-bag, "Papa, steet, New York, 

Aunt M y." He evidently thinks that every time 

his father goes out of the house with a bag he goes to 
]STew York to see Aunt M y. 

March 18th. — When his father came in this evening- 
he ran to him and said, "Iss, papa," kissed him, brought 
his little violin and bow immediately, walked up to 
where the big one was, stood there, and said, repeated- 
ly, " Papa play big violin." When at last his father 
did play, he walked around the room as usual, playing 
his. It is a very quaint sight, for he holds both violin 
and bow correctly, for his father found it was just as 
easy to show him the right way as the wrong. It is on 
this principle that he is shown correctly how to do any- 
thing that he is likely to use in later life. One evening 
recently, when amusing each other with their violins, 
Harold's father used his bow on Harold's violin, nat- 
urally with increased sound. Harold instantly cried for 
"big bow" to use it himself on his violin, and it took 
a long time to restore his content with his own bow. 
(This shows how readily a child may be made unhappy 
by comparisons.) 

This evening at early dinner he was allowed to sit at 
table. He had bread-and-milk, and asked for a spoon 
to " feed himself." I spoke incidentally of Mary (a 
former servant). He said at once, " Did you see Mary ? 
Did you see George ?" (Mary's husband, of whom he 
was very fond). He had not seen nor heard of them for 
some time. 

This morning he found a picture of a clock in his pet 
journal which looked not unlike one in a friend's room. 
He called it "lady's clock," and handed me another 

99 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

copy of the journal, begging me to " Find noclder lady's 
clock." I did so, and he was delighted, repeating many 
times " Find nodder lady's clock." Then he looked 
closely at them, said " Won't go," then looked up at the 
clock on the wall and said, " Ganma's clock ; don't 
touch." 

One morning before I had risen he was yery quiet, 
and we discovered him on my desk pulling at the pen- 
dulum of a clock which he calls "ganme's clock" be- 
cause she gave it to me. 

March 19th. — When his father kissed him good-bye 
this morning he said, " See papa out er winnow on steet." 
I held him so he could see him for a moment as he passed 
out of sight. He said, " There he is — gone,'" and turned 
away as if ready for something else. He is a very 
philosophical little fellow. 

This evening he said to us, " See Mrs. Pancer." We 
asked him where. He said, " On ee steet at ee corner." 
We found out afterwards that he and his nurse had 
passed a Mrs. Spencer at the corner of a street in the 
afternoon. 

The other evening when in his own room he lost a 
peg of his violin, one that came out very easily. We 
all went out to find it for him. Since then he begs us 
every evening to come out and find it, leading each one 
of us to the same place, because he still misses it. We 
really found it the first evening, but put it away, un- 
known to him, for we thought he would soon be satis- 
fied without it, and it was so loose that he was constant- 
ly losing it. I suppose it would have been kinder to 
the little fellow to have fixed the peg in so that it 
would stay. 

To-night he said at dinner, "Want some oysters. 

100 



THIRD YEAR 

Papa want some water? Harold pour it out." He 
always wants to help wherever he is, and he is still en- 
couraged in it, although at times it is trying to wait 
until he has done what he is aiming; at. 

He saw a bird go down a chimney to-day, and said, 
" See little bird go down hole." He never saw a chim- 
ney from the top, so he must have reasoned that there 
was a hole because the bird disappeared. When he saw 
flowing water and sleet on snow to-day, he said, ap- 
ropos of each subject, " See water run," and " See water 
on snow." 

He was very sleepy when he was put down for his 
nap, and as soon as his head touched the pillow he said, 
very decidedly, " Draw curtain, mamma." It sounded 
as if he could hardly wait to go to sleep. When he 
saw her lying on a couch later in the day he said to 
himself, " Mamma resting." 

When he went to see Mrs. A to-day he asked for 

" birdie." She has a stuffed bird that she gives to him 
occasionally to amuse himself with while we chat. To- 
day, after receiving the bird, he said, "Put birdie on ee 
trunk." We did so. Then he looked at it and said, 
" See birdie on ee trunk," then took it up and caressed 
it, asking me to kiss its eyes and its tail. As he said tail 
he pointed to the branch upon which the bird's feet were 
resting. I then showed him where the tail was. 

When looking out of the window to-day he said, 
" See ee bird in cage," indicating that he wanted to 
move so he could get something in his line of vision. I 
did as he wanted, and found that from a certain part of 
the window-ledge he could see a bird in a cage in a 
house across the street. He had evidently discovered 
this before, but had said nothing about it, for we were 

101 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

not aware of its being the case. He is constantly sur- 
prising us in this way. 

A violinist and harpist played before the house one 
day recently, and he insisted on having his violin and 
being put on the window-ledge, where he stood and 
played for a long time, much to the amusement of the 
musicians outside. 

"When he was being dressed to-day to go out with his 
nurse he said, " Take the chair away." It appears she 
has to remove a chair in the down-stair's hall in order 
to get the coach out of the door, and he meant that she 
should get it ready while I was dressing him. 

He began running up and down before his father this 
evening, saying, " Boom, boom, bumpety boom ; shoot 
papa, bing !" pointing his finger as he did it. 

March 20th.— To-day he said, "Call papa"; "King" 

bell"; "Mamma resting"; "Papa, play big violin"; 

" Call papa ; papa, come home, play big violin." "When 

he came in from his airing he said, " Had good time on 

-steet." 

This morning to amuse him I suggested that he go 

to the door, call Mrs. A , and say " Good-morning " 

to her. He called "Mrs. A " four times, waiting 

until she answered; then he said " Good - morning;." 
This occupied him for quite a little while, and I had a 
few minutes' freedom until he was ready for something 
else. Yesterday when I heard Mrs. A going down- 
stairs I said to him, to divert him for a moment, " Call 

good-bye to Mrs. A ." He did so, and added, " Frow 

a kiss to Mrs. A ." He loves her very much, and it 

pleases him to do these things, at the same time it culti- 
vates a kindly feeling to others. He appears now to 
love nearly every person he meets. 

102 



THIRD YEAR 

To-day he said, " Mamma tore her dress. Too bad !" 

He heard us say alcohol, and said, instantly, "Don't 
like alcohol bottle on ee mantel." He is rubbed with it, 
and doesn't like the smell. He says the word very 
distinctly. 

For several months now he has said, when eating, 
" Put away, got enough," and he will take no more. 

To-day he said, " Make a tick-tock. Harold make a 
tick-tock." He has stopped saying I, except occasion- 
ally, and uses his name (Harold) instead. He told me 
to-night to " Make lamp light again ; make gas - pipe 
light." He also asked to go out this afternoon by say- 
ing, " Mamma, get ee coat and cap and take Harold 
bye," following it up with " Annie no Harold bye " 
(meaning he preferred that his mother should take him 
out instead of his nurse). 

When his mother tried to cover his bare feet this 
evening with his night-coat, while holding him on her 
lap before placing him in bed, he said, " Mamma, coat 
no on feet." He always shows a desire to have them 
bare at this time, and it is curious to hear him say "no" 
for not. 

March 21st. — "Hello, Alfred!" he said, to-day, looking 
in the next room to see if it was an errand-boy he 
knew, for he heard some one moving about. He saw 
it was his nurse, however, and then said, " Oh, that's 
Annie !" 

This evening he said to his father when he came in, 
" Take off gloves, poppee ; take off fingers." 

His mother had a headache and he said, "Annie's 
forehead, mamma's forehead — poor mamma's forehead !" 
He said " Big pin, little pin " repeatedly to-day, to two 
safety-pins of different size. 

103 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

On March 22d he said, " Now, Tommy, sit up ; now, 
Tommy, eat some breakfast " ; " Tommy like boy 
squeak." Tommy is his pet rag doll, and he talks to 
him a great deal. He also said that " Tommy go in a 
hole." We couldn't find out what he meant. 

March 23d. — As I poured all the water from a carafe 
into a large basin this morning he said, "Big water, 
little water ; little water gone out." 

March 24th. — New sentences to-day were " Lots of 
good times " ; " Lots of good fun." 

March 25th. — He asked me to " Sit on ee knees." This 
is the first time for the word knees. 

March 26th. — He said to-da}?- to himself, " Papa says 
no, no, Harold; papa says turn those pins around" 
(meaning pegs in violin). He said later to me, " Harold 
want to write." He has never asked for this before. 
He has a great notion of comparing — i.e., "big vio- 
lin, little violin " ; " big cup, little cup " ; " big pin, little 
pin," etc. 

' March 27th. — He was delighted to sit up to early 
dinner this evening, and said, " Harold see papa eat 
supper. Harold see mamma eat supper too. Harold 
eat too. Lots of fun. Lots of good times." 

March 28th. — I washed "Tommy" to-day, and when 
he saw him he noticed it at once and said, " New Tom- 
my, nice new Tommy. Tommy clean." But first he 
rubbed him with his hand and said, " Tommy wet." The 
doll was not yet dry. 

March 29th. — He said to-day, "Fraicl mommy lay 
down herself." This is the first time he has said "her- 
self." When he came in from his walk, Annie asked 
him what the gentleman said to him. He replied at 
once, " Shake hands." 

104 



THIRD YEAR 

He is very much interested in clocks, and insists on 
stopping to see every clock he can find in the windows 
as we go along. He rarely misses one, and keeps on 
the lookout for them during the entire time we are out 
walking. In consequence, we take quite a long time to 
walk a very short way, for nearly every window has a 
clock. I fear it will soon be a question as to which one 
of us is the more clever in selecting a route — whether it 
be one minus clocks, or almost so, at any rate, to suit 
me, or full of them, to suit him. 

Every evening when his father comes in it is still the 
same old story, " Poppee, play big violin ; Harold play 
little violin " ; and, " Poppee, put rosin on bow, mamma 
dance, Harold play — lift dress and dance, mamma." She 
has danced for him several times, to show him the mo- 
tion of her feet when waltzing. 

His mother was ready to take him out this afternoon, 
but had not yet taken up her gloves. He said, " Mam- 
ma, get gloves." He seems to observe every little thing. 
We need make no effort to influence him to notice 
things. He misses very little, and seems to remember 
everything he once sees or hears. 

(The record shows that when he was old enough to 
ask questions about things that puzzled him, he remem- 
bered every answer he received with but one telling. 
His usual form of questioning at this age — two years — 
was " What's dat ?") 

When he had his bath this evening he soaped his 
hands, washed them, and dried them with a towel I gave 
him. Then he held them out to me and said, as if ask- 
ing me if it were so, "Harold's hands dry?" touching 
each one as he said it. 

Yesterday he saw a baby in the window across the 

105 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

street. He said, " Baby has white dress on." I asked 
him if he wanted to have a w r hite one on. He said, " Xo ; 
Harold has Aunt Mollie's dress on." This is the colored 
gingham he prefers to all his other dresses. He is a 
sturdy little fellow. It never makes him unhappy to 
see others have what he has not. (The record shows 
this to be the case right through, and he was always 
content when told he would receive things he asked for 
" some day," because he was given reason to trust those 
who promised him anything. The record shows also 
that it was always found to be the best plan to buy his 
presents when he was not along, for he soon reasoned 
out for himself that his part was only to select what he 
wanted to have " some day," and care was taken to see 
that he frequently received the things he selected. For 
this reason he never gave any one trouble about biding 
when taken about to see things.) 

He has never mentioned color in this way before. 
He notices when his mother has a black dress on, say- 
ing, " Mamma has black dress on." He also asks for 
his "red cap." or "white cap," as the case may be. 

March 31st. — This morning, when Mrs. A and I 

were engaged, he walked up to his father's violin with 
his own in his hand, and began to laugh aloud, pajnng 
no attention to us. As he laughed he said, in a low 
voice, " Papa come home, play big violin. Papa mill 
come home this evening, play big violin," followed by a 
long-drawn-out "Oh," and laughing to himself quietly. 
At last he turned to us and repeated the whole perform- 
ance in a very comical manner. His laughing was all 
pretence, quite noiseless, and not at all like his sponta- 
neous laughter, but as if he were trying to prolong his 
enjoyment. 

106 



THIRD YEAR 

April 3d. — He wanted to go to sleep at once this 
evening when put to bed, and called out, " Papa, bet- 
ter shut the door." There was a slight delay, and he 
said, " Mamma, shut the door !" emphasizing shut in a 
marked manner. 

He saw Annie throw a kiss to him with her hand, and 
said, " Annie put a hand on a kiss." 

April 4th. — To-day he stroked my face, kissed me, 
hugged me, and said, very lovingly, "My darlin' 
boy!" He also said to his nurse, "Annie, Harold's 
darlin'." 

April 7th. — When we took a walk to-day, he saw a 
pussy in a yard across the way. He stopped, bowed 
his head, and said, "How do, pussy? Glad to see you, 
pussy. Pussy come and take a walk." 

To-day he said to himself the whole of the nursery 
song "Ding dong dell," without any assistance. I asked 
him this morning where his father was. He answered 
at once, " Gone to Filaduffia." 

April 10th. — When out walking this morning with his 
mother it grew very windy, so they hurried home. As 
they went along he pulled at her hand and said, "Hurry 
up fast, mamma " ; then, " Walk hard, mamma, windy," 
running as he said it. 

To-day he said, " Sit hard, Aunt C ." I couldn't 

find out what he meant. He sat down on the floor 
then to try to button his shoes, and as he did it he 
leaned over them very closely and said, " This is the 

way Aunt C does." I recognized the position at 

once. He is very imitative. 

April 12th. — He amused himself to-day by watching 
a sprinkling-wagon go up and down the street. I heard 
him say to himself several times "Here it comes again." 

107 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

He also said to a sleeping dog, " Get up, dog," and to 
one he met, " How do, dog ?" 

April 15th. — "When at dinner to-day he looked around 
and said, "I see no apple - sauce." He likes it very 
much, and has it nearly every day for dinner, but this 
day it had been overlooked. 

This morning, when he went to the window to see his 
beloved choo-choos pass by, we heard him say, " Good- 
morning, Mrs. Y ," saying the name of a neighbor 

whom we thought he would not remember from his 
previous visit (he was away from home). We then 

saw that Mrs. l r was at her window. He knew 

her at once, although he had not seen her for four 
months. 

Last night his mother put him to bed after having 
dressed to go in the rain to a concert. He said to her, 
"Fraid mamma go away. Mamma got rubbers on. 
Mamma got shoes on. Take hat off, mamma ; tay with 
Harold." All this was said in a very pleading tone. 
She removed her hat and rubbers, and he fell asleep 
contentedly. As he invariably sleeps until eleven, after 
once getting asleep, he can be left without trouble if 
no sign of going is given while he is awake. 

(The record shows that when he was old enough to 
understand, he was told every time that his parents ex- 
pected to be away when he was asleep. This was done to 
keep him free from any knowledge of deception. Minot 
Savage tells a stor3 r of a boy in Boston who said of his 
father and mother, who promised him a ride daily but 
never took him, " There go two of the biggest liars in 
Boston." I have also heard of a child who evidently 
met deception somewhere, who said that since liars 
wouldn't go to heaven there wouldn't be many people 

108 




NO DATE DRAWINGS 



A, "a disappearing cannon"; B, "a man having his hair cut — the boy is pulling the longhair 
of the woman who is cutting the man's hair"; C, "ostrich looking back as he runs"; D, re- 
versible picture. 



THIRD YEAR 

there ; maybe grandma, but she was sure there wouldn't 
be any men there.) 

To-day he saw one of his white dresses lying on the 
grass to bleach. He became very cross and said it 
would get dirty, not understanding the process. He 
saw his beloved colored gingham on the line and said, 
"Aunt Mottle's dress get clean." 

He has been watching his cousin prepare a bed for 
planting tomatoes. He was allowed to dig in the ashes 
that were used. Next day he said, "Mamma, get 
shobel, dig powder," meaning the ashes, which to him 
seemed like powder, yet we do not know how he learned 
anything about powder. 

April 16th. — This morning John S came in. Har- 
old knew him at once and went to him very soon. They 
were very friendly about four weeks ago, at which time 
Harold was very much pleased with my explanation of 

a metronome to John S and J 's cousin who 

called on us at the time. John S asked him 

where the clock was (Harold called the metronome a 
clock). He replied, " Clock asleep." We had put it 

out of sight after John S left, because we could 

not easily control Harold's desire to have it while 
he could see it, hence his own conclusion of " clock 
asleep." 

The engines pass and repass all day on the railroad 
back of his aunt's house, and he stands at the window 
at intervals all day long. He shows that he reasons, for 
as an engine passes out of sight at one window he 
crosses the room quickly and looks for it from another 
window, from which the engine may be seen as it turns 
a curve in the track. 

To-day I asked him if he wanted to go to see his father 

109 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

on Friday. He said, " Don't like Friday." Then I said 
Saturday. He said, " Yes, go to see papa, Saturday." I 
then said, " Papa will play the big violin." He smiled 
and said, " Harold play little violin." 

April 17th.— This morning, as he was lying in bed for 
a moment with his mother, he said, " Mamma, put head 
on Harold's dry pillow." Some milk had just been spilled 
on the end of the pillow towards her. He shows quite a 
great deal of consideration for her in many ways. To en- 
courage him in this he is always given some kind word 
or a kiss in return, and care is taken to let him see that 
it is appreciated. He said, afterwards, " I don't want to 
go to sleep, mamma. Get up and dress Harold." His 
sentences now are rapidly becoming fuller, and he often 
uses every word necessary to form a complete phrase. 
Since his mind is not so much occupied with the big 
words — having acquired a considerable vocabulary — he 
is beginning to notice the connections more, and also 
the little niceties of accent and pronunciation, yet his 
attention is not directed to this. He takes it all very 
naturally and easily, without the least sign of pl^sical 
or mental strain. By nurturing the physical, he runs 
along mentally so rapidly that no doubt he will soon 
have to be repressed a little in suggestion in order to 
keep things even, for uneven development is always a 
cause for alarm. 

When he looked out of the window this morning and 
saw the snow, he said, " Snowing, mamma," pronouncing 
the "g " distinctly. He put his violin between his knees 
to-day in quite a professional manner, and said, " I want 
to wind it up," then turned a peg and touched a string. 
Then he took his bow and drew the rosin over it to the 
very end, saying, "This is the wa} T that papa does." 

110 



THIRD YEAR 

Then he drew the bow across the violin, and because it 
made no sound he said, " Eosin no good." 

He asked me to-day to sing "Baby, baby, oh, my 
darling bab}''" (Emmet's song, which he heard for the 
first time about a week ago, when his father sang it for 
him). 

"When out walking with me this afternoon he saw a 
clock on a steeple fully a quarter of a mile away, and 
said, pointing to it, " There's another clock." (He gives 
frequent evidence of being far-sighted.) 

"We called on some one to-day who gave to him for 
amusement a board of marbles used for solitaire. The 
centre hole, as usual, had no marble in it. The in- 
stant Harold saw the board he said, " Want anoder one," 
went to the closet from which the board was taken 
and said it again, looking for the marble he thought 
was missing. He observes very quickly. When we 
returned from there we stopped in to see his metro- 
nome friend, John S , who showed him a gui- 
tar. Harold said at once, "John's violin got no 
bridge on." 

April 18th. — This morning when he waked he hugged 
and kissed his mother, saying " Mamma " — very lovingly 
— "have lots of good times wif mamma," She asked 
him if he wanted Annie (his nurse). He said " No — 
mamma," dwelling on mamma, and by his tone intimat- 
ing that he preferred to have her. (He always seems 
so glad to have her instead of the servants that she 
gives him much more time than was originally planned 
for. It is evident that it is better for him. With even 
the most faithful service there is constant need for in- 
telligent and sympathetic supervision at very short in- 
tervals, to watch the gradual unfolding of a child's 

ill 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

mind, and to nurture to the best of one's ability its 
physical development.) 

April 20th. — "We have returned home again, and to- 
day when Annie left the room for her coat and hat, 
while Harold was waiting, ready for her to take him 
out, he said, " Fraid Annie go out herself," for she was 
rather slow in returning. Then he said, " See an ah-ah- 
ah-ah-ah," meaning a derrick, imitating the noise of one. 
For a long time afterwards he called a derrick by this 
sound. I think his nurse said it to him the first time, 
but I do not know. Probably he tried to imitate the 
sound of the creaking. His father protested at last, 
thinking the child should always be told the correct 
name of anything he noticed, and he was then taught 
the word directly. 

April 21st. — This morning he said, ""Want to see Aunt 

M e taking coffee in next yoom," remembering his 

visit to New York two months ago. 

To-day I cut some paper engines for him. The mo- 
ment he saw them he said, " Harold's choo-choo." Last 
Christmas his cousin Harold sent him one cut out of 
paper, and the last week of our recent visit there he also 
cut some for him. 

April 22d. — To-day I had the little fellow with me all 
day long. He was very docile and loving, and appeared 
to be perfectly happy. He came to me constantly in 
between his play, to hug and kiss me. I gave him a 
scissors and paper for the first time. He is twenty-six 
months old now. He took up the scissors to try to cut. 
He knew it had to be parted at the blades, but he did not 
know how to do it, so I showed him the place for his 
thumb and fingers. He didn't need a second showing. 
For some time he tried and tried to cut, without success. 

112 



THIRD YEAR 

I let him alone, watching, however, to see that he did 
not stick or cut himself, for the scissors was a small, 
sharp - pointed one. The blunt scissors made are too 
heavy and too clumsy for the delicate work of a child. 
I therefore gave him a small embroidery scissors, wish- 
ing, however, I had a blunt yet equally delicate scissors. 
(It would no doubt be possible to have the regular em- 
broidery scissors blunted.) 

After he had struggled for a long time with the scis- 
sors and piece of paper, he announced in a tone of 
triumph, " Cut a piece !" and showed me a piece like this, 
-=cd3 that he had succeeded in cutting off. He was 
very much elated, and at last he started in to cut off all 
the projections on one of the paper engines I had cut 
for him. He cut one after the other, saying as he went 
along, " Harold cut off whistle ; Harold cut off bell ; 
Harold cut off wheel," etc. When he reached the pilot 
he looked up at me interrogatively, and I said, " Cow- 
catcher." He did not repeat the word after me. He 
went right on with his sentence, " Harold cut off cow- 
catcher." His memory seems to be very good. He often 
repeats a word of three syllables correctly after hearing 
it only once. After he had cut away all the parts, he 
held up the body of the engine and said to me in a tone 
of pity, " Harold cut off whistle ; engine all torn." I 
asked him if he wanted another. He said "Yes," so I 
gave him one similar to the one he had cut. I often 
folded paper fourfold before beginning to cut them out 
for him, because it pleased him very much to see me 
hand four engines to him instead of what appeared to 
be only one. He took up the paper engine I gave him, 
took his scissors in his other hand, looked at them both, 
looked at me, held the scissors to the whistle, and to 

H 113 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

each part, and said, " I don't want to cut off whistle ; 
I don't want to cut off bell ; I don't want to cut off 
wheel ; I don't want to cut off cow-catcher," and he 
didn't do it either. All this occurred without my say- 
ing a word. He evidently did not want to see the en- 
gine destroyed, and although he wanted to have the 
pleasure of cutting, he desisted that he might not de- 
stroy it. (For a child two years and two months old, 
this appears to be an exhibition of the self-control one 
should endeavor to cultivate in children.) 

I then gave him as a reward (without saying it was 
such) long strips of paper to snip, in order that he might 
enjoy the cutting without feeling that he was destroying 
something. He also had to-day some large-eyed buttons 
and a long string threaded in a bodkin. He found one 
button that stuck on the extreme end of the bodkin. 
He held it towards me and said, " I make a chimney." 

Later in the day we called on Mrs. A , his " lufly 

lady." He saw a chimney from one of her windows, 
and said, instantly, "Harold make a chimney," refer- 
ring to the button. 

He also had some large screws during the day. (His 
mother keeps on hand a supply of the things likely to 
amuse him, for he appreciates each one very much, and 
is often diverted from crying by the production of a new 
set of toys.) He played with the screws for a long time, 
comparing them to the pictures of the screws in his 
" schliissel book." Then he put one in and out of his 
mouth as if it were a cigar, saying, " This is the way 
papa mokes." 

He had beans next. These he put one by one in his 
mouth. I said, " No, no." He blew them out of his 
mouth in a very funny way, and said, " I don't want to 

114 



THIRD YEAR 

eat beans.'-' His mother kissed him and said, " Mamma's 
good boy," for he always expects this when he obeys. 
Several times to-day he fretted for what was denied him. 
Each time his mother said to him, as she often does, 
" Put your head on mamma's lap and cry it out," which 
he did every time, crying quietly for a moment, when 
he would say, "I don't see Harold." Then she says, 
" Here he is," when he looks up smiling, many a time 
with tears still lying on his cheeks. The storm is then 
over, and he will go on with his play. He is very per- 
sistent and strong-willed, but if care is taken not to 
oppose him openly, guiding him only by suggestion, he 
shows a willingness to do right at all times. It ap- 
pears as if he might become obstinate if he were treated 
harshly or with less regard for his feeling of individual 
right, of which he shows a strong sense. (The record 
shows all through that he has a keen sense of injustice 
and a strong belief in his own rights, but it shows also 
that he believes in the rights of others as much as his 
own, for he tries very hard for a little fellow to show 
that he respects them. If any question ever does come 
to an issue, which his parents try hard to prevent, they 
keep on patiently until he obeys. This is usually very 
soon, but before compelling obedience they satisfy them- 
selves that he is perfectly well, in order to avoid nerve 
strain. If ill or restless from causes for which he is 
not responsible, they lay aside all rules until he is him- 
self again, and effort is made to hold only sufficient 
control to exact instant obedience in case of illness or 
immediate danger. It would seem that this is all that 
any parent or person in charge of a child has the right 
to exact in absolute obedience, and all so-called discipline, 
breaking of the will, etc., is to be deprecated, as breeding 

115 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

obstinacy, deception, nervous conditions, and many un- 
desirable qualities. I have frequently found that even 
bad children — many times mistakenly called so — will 
respond delightfully to treatment that is kind and sym- 
pathetic, yet perfectly just. The record also shows that 
Harold had several playmates at times who were con- 
sidered almost unmanageable at home, yet in his nursery 
they were perfectly well-behaved, probably in part owing 
to the opportunities open for diversion by the surround- 
ings offered, but equally, no doubt, to the invariable rule 
of sending home all the children when one quarrelled, 
no matter whether it was Harold or one of his visitors. 
Decisions were absolutely impartial, and the children 
all felt as if there was an appeal made to their honor, 
for they saw that all suffered when one disobeyed. In 
this way they learned to play together for hours without 
dissension. A curious fact, noted in connection with the 
entire record, is that the children who were fed properly 
and received proper hygienic care were the most docile. 
Those who gave evidence of careless handling or of nag- 
ging by servants were invariably the most difficult to 
impress with consideration for others. Social reformers 
may find this of interest.) 

One day recently I cut some large paper engines and 
cars for him, making them about a yard long, by using 
long pieces of newspaper. I did not fold the paper 
double, as I did before, but cut each train separately. He 
took up two in the most critical style without saying a 
word, and looked first at the smoke-stack of one, then 
the other, and so on with each part of each train. He 
seemed satisfied, and put them down without a word. 
Fortunately I had cut them very nearly alike. He is 
very quick to note differences. 

116 



THIRD YEAR 

"When it was raining one day he looked out of the win- 
dow, and said, "I don't see the sunshine." Then he said 
to a servant in the room, " Maggie, look out and see the 
rain." Just before that he had said, "It's raining again" 
Yesterday he used " again " in the same way. First he 
said, " Here it comes" ; then a little later, " Here it comes 
again." He came to his mother to-day and said, " Sit 
on mamma's lap." She lifted him up. He then said, 
" Sing, mamma." She sang a song from Elliott's Mother 
Goose, which was always used, because the harmonies 
are sufficiently beautiful to cultivate a taste for good 
music. He then said, " Harold sing," and he joined in 
her song, piping up his little voice as high as he could 
get it, singing all the words of the song she was singing. 
He appears to know the words now of all these songs. 
She then sang a dance song, and he stood up on his bed, 
held his skirts with both hands, and swayed back and 
forth, saying, " See Harold dance." He did not move 
his feet, but kept perfect time with his body movement. 

He heard Mrs. A play a waltz later in the day, and 

he beat time correctly with his hands, never missing 
the rhythm as she changed from one part to another. 

Mrs. , who plays exquisitely, was here the other 

day, and while she was playing something with marked 
rhythm he begged to go near to her. He had previous- 
ly refused to go to her, and no amount of persuasion 
would induce him even to look at her at first. He was 
carried, however, to the next room, and he showed inter- 
est in the music when he was placed by her side. He 
closed his eyes that he might not see her, but moved 
his body in his mother's arms in perfect accord with 
the music, and said, " Mamma, dance." At last he 
begged to go into the next room and be rocked and 

117 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

soothed. It appeared as though he needed to be 
soothed because he had been under two opposing in- 
fluences — his love for the music, and his feeling against 

the performer. When Mrs. had finished playing 

she spoke of his keen sense of rhythm. He begged 
his mother to hold him for a long time, which is unusual, 
and then said, " Mamma, sing a song of fixpence," and 
seemed to be himself again. 

(Compare this experience with his different action at 
four months in Chapter I., page 16, when Handel's Largo 
and Raff's concertos were played in his hearing.) 

One day I gave one of my visiting-cards to him. He 
has had none since we gave him one two months ago 

with Dr. T 's name on it, which we read to him at the 

time. He kept Dr. T 's card at that time among his 

toys for several days, always calling it by name. The 
card I gave him to-day was larger than the original 
size he first saw, yet he noted the resemblance at once, 
for he said " Dr. T 's card." "When I gave him an- 
other of mine he said the same thing. 

When he doesn't feel very well now he sa3 T s, " Harold 
has a pain, poor dearie; mamma's dearie. Pain soon 
all over," in the most compassionate tone. He is very 
brave about bumps. He always s} T mpathizes with the 
thing bumped into instead of thinking of himself. We 
have encouraged this in order to get him into the habit 
of looking away from himself at the world about him 
instead of becoming introspective and self-conscious. 
He even goes so far as to kiss the pavement, if he falls 
on the street, and say " Poor pavement !" We never 
check him in this even, for fear of starting the tide 
the wrong way. It seems that it is in just these tri- 
fling things that the great value of the " letting alone " 

118 



THIRD YEAR 

with supervision system becomes apparent. Evidently 
the nearer one can get a child to a regular habit of ac- 
tion under certain circumstances, taking it for granted 
that the habit aimed at is a desirable one, the easier 
it is to take care of that child physically, morally, 
and mentally. (The record shows that the effort of 
trying to establish a regular habit of action for body, 
mind, and spirit resulted in a remarkable happy life 
for the little fellow. He thinks everybody loves him, 
and with rare exceptions he loves everybody.) 

Last week, after having let forbidden things alone for 
a long time, he touched the little tea-set in the dining- 
room that had first attracted him. His mother followed 
him and said, "No, no," doing just as was done before. 
He persisted, however, in taking off the lids that pleased 
him so much. She then said, " Shall mamma tie Harold's 
hands up ?" He said " Yes," not really knowing what 
she meant. She did this very lightly and gently with 
her handkerchief, but more in fun than for discipline. 
He was very much surprised. He had no idea what tie 
meant, or else he thought it wouldn't be done, for if it can 
be avoided he is not punished in a way to make him feel 
that he is punished. He is allowed to reason out cause 
and effect when he has done wrong, and he is, conse- 
quently, very reasonable when he understands matters. 
When he saw his hands tied he began to cry, and said, 
"No tie Harold's hands up." He nearly always says 
"no" at the beginning of a sentence, instead of saying, 
for instance, " Do not tie," etc. His mother said, " Well, 
go to papa, and tell him you are sorry and Avill not do 
it again, and ask him to take it off." He did so, saying " I 
sorry," when his father, with a kiss, removed the hand- 
kerchief. I suppose he didn't even know what sorry 

119 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

meant, but, once begun, even if in pla} T , the affair had to 
be carried out to the end, although his mother really did 
not mean at the time to teach him instantly and in this 
way that he must not touch the china. It was her in- 
tention when she saw him touch it to let him handle it 
carefully in her presence and appeal to his love for her 
to let it alone when she was not there, which he would 
have done, for he is always amenable to treatment of this 
character. Unwittingly, however, this lesson was learned 
in another way, and probably no harm was done, but 
care is taken that even in play nothing is done to 
make him afraid. He now walks to the china set, 
looks at it, and says, "No, no, mamma tie Harold's 
hands up," and it hurts her every time he does it. She 
often goes to him and kisses him and says, " No, no, 
Harold is mamma's good boy who doesn't need to have 
his hands tied up." 

(The record shows that about a year later she chas- 
tised him, very lightly, it is true, but still she laid her 
Jiand upon him in a moment of vexation, evidently as 
much to her own surprise as to his, for she realized her 
mistake, and promised never to do it again. The little 
fellow seemed to love and trust her more and more from 
that day on, and what appeared to be his proudest 
boast afterwards to his playmates was, " Mamma never 
whips me." He never knew what whip meant until he 
heard other boys use the word. Nor did he ever hear 
the word " naughty," to know what it meant, except in 
the one instance mentioned (page 54), until he began 
playing with outside children. To control matters like 
these it was a well -understood thing that if servants 
spoke of forbidden subjects in the hearing of the little 
fellow, it would be considered sufficient cause for dis- 

120 



* __,.■. 




— '■■-■ *" 










• w 1 r - * 


G ! 

•/ 

a , s 



Db 




NO DATE DRAWINGS 



A, man looking through telescope; B, naptha launch; C, cannon — a, explosion, b, ball; 
D— a, Harold's copy of b ; E, hospital, doctor, nurse, patient, nnd visitor ; F. gun shooting a man ; 
G, ''boys sledding by moonlight— a is hill they had to go over"; H, pussy's face ; I, figures for 
his toy theatre ; J, steamboat, and two negroes in a rowboat ; K — a, gun with bayonet ; b, ham- 
mer of pistol ; L. his idea of a machine for generating electricity to run trolley-cars — a, engine 
making it ; b, trolley ; c, c, wires from engine to switches and batteries ; d, d, conductor of power 
to car ; e, switches and batteries ; M, sea-serpents after fish and boat. 



THIRD YEAR 

charge. As a counterpoise to the care and gentleness 
required of the servants, many unexpected privileges were 
granted them through the medium of the child, with 
whom they naturally associated these pleasures, thus 
keeping a kindly feeling for him in spite of the extra 
care required of them for his sake.) 

Diversion is a great aid in getting Harold out of 
little tempers. He is keenly alive to anything that is 
humorous or that possesses the least element of fun. 
"When any one succeeds in making him laugh he forgets 
his anger. I notice that he laughs quicker at an attempt 
to do something and missing it than at anything else. 
When putting on his overshoes, for instance, his nurse 
has a habit of pretending that she has pushed so hard 
that the rubber flies to the other end of the room. This 
always brings a peal of laughter. Once in a great while, 
when he is ailing or fretful, and we have a hard time to 
bathe or dress him, she will pretend to hang something 
on a nail that is apparently just a little too high for her 
to reach. She will jump at it and miss it at the most 
important period of my work, and will do this possibly 
two or three times while I am getting him ready for 
bed. She thus gives me the greatest possible amount 
of comfort by her faithfulness and quick comprehen- 
sion, and has given a bridge many a time for getting 
over troublesome places by her quick adaptation to the 
little needs constantly arising. This is the true spirit 
of Froebel, and she lives with the child in his play, for 
she has leisure and aptitude and enjoys the fun as much 
as he does. He is very quick to see when the spirit 
is lacking, and he will not suffer any attempt at a make- 
believe liking of play. He wants the genuine love for 
it every time. 

121 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

We never let him cry if we can help it. A well- 
trained and healthy baby does not want to cry, for he is 
sufficiently occupied in trying to find out the meaning of 
the world about him. Experience has shown what his 
cry means at different times. When he is angry we keep 
away, and then go to him as if nothing had happened 
when it is over. He always wants us for " lots of good 
times," as he calls them, so he quickly dries his angry 
tears. If he is hungry, we give him his food if it is 
near his regular time, or, if not quite near enough, we 
prepare it in his presence very deliberately, gaining all 
the time we can by the interest he shows in the work as 
we go along, and which has a tendency to stop his cry- 
ing. He rarely gets hungry, however, between meals, 
for he is accustomed to method as to time and quan- 
tity in the way of feeding. When he is ill and cries, we 
can always tell it at once, and we find that this cry 
means that instant relief of some kind is needed. He 
has a peculiar little cry, almost a gasp, it might be 
called, when he is giving up the battle after he has been 
crying from anger. It often comes just when we are seri- 
ously considering whether we might not in that instance 
give up to him, and it always brings relief. It is certainly 
true that a mother has as much occasion for self-disci- 
pline as has her child. He is very quick to see a chance 
of gaining a victory, and he sometimes uses it merci- 
lessly, when I leave him alone to keep myself strong, 
and he will then yield gracefully and very lovingly, 
coming after me at once. I notice that when I keep all 
sound of coercion out of my voice in giving him direc- 
tions, he is willing to do as I say. Were I to command 
him, he would become antagonistic at once, and be hard 
to control. I found this out by an experience that need 

122 



THIRD YEAR 

not be repeated if his rights to consideration will be 
respected as being equal to my own. Because any one 
happens to be in authority is no reason why it should be 
exercised unnecessarily. The strongest character is the 
one that does not take an unfair advantage of oppor- 
tunity. It is hard to comprehend why so many parents 
think it necessary to scold children when they are, as 
they suppose, training them. It inclines too much to 
the methods used when training animals to act in the 
circus-ring to appeal to wisdom. Intelligent and loving 
obedience to the wishes of considerate parents is a 
beautiful thing to witness, and it must be productive of 
great good in the development of character. Abject 
obedience, however, in response to commands that are 
given without rhyme or reason, by parents or servants, 
just as it may happen, is something to be banished 
completely from nurser} 7 training, if the moral de- 
velopment of the child is desired. Let mothers beware 
of giving absolute authority into the hands of any 
one. 

(The record shows that no one but the parents were 
allowed to use any authority over Harold, and even his 
father frequently sent the little chap to " ask mamma," 
in the mutual effort to keep authority in one direction 
only, for the purpose before stated — of possible future 
use. There seemed to be very little occasion for the 
exercise of this authority in his ordinary life, for a 
suggestion or an expressed wish was usually sufficient. 
"When that failed, an appeal to his reason or love in- 
variably ended the matter. He always seemed to feel 
that he was expected to do right.) 

April 23d. — This morning at breakfast Harold said, 
"Papa, eat her egg." I said, "No, papa eat his egg." 

123 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

He repeated it after me, and some time afterwards said 
it over twice, very carefully, emphasizing his. 

He is beginning to say "I" much more frequently 
than before. When he waked this morning he crept 
over into his mother's bed as usual, hugged her, and 
said, " Have lots of good times wif mamma." 

April 29th. — To-day, when in Mrs. A 's room, he 

suddenly dropped his toys and came to me in an excited 
way, beggiug to be held and rocked. As I rocked him he 
kept saying, "Dont like it; go down-tairs. Don't like 
it ; go down-tairs." We couldn't understand what the 
trouble was until I saw a screw-top bottle standing on 
the dressing-table, and then I understood it all. The 
poor child cannot get over the recollection of the ether- 
bottle. It took some time to pacify him, and it could 
not be done until I took him out of the room. As we 
left he looked excited, his face was flushed, and he said 
again, " Don't like the bottle." 

Ever since, every time he hears the door-bell, he puts 
r his hand to his face and says, "Doctor won't hurt 
you." 

April 30th. — To-day he told me, without crying or 
showing any disturbance whatever, that he had hurt 
himself at the door. I discovered that he had done so 
some time earlier in the day. He often bears suffering 
without flinching, but yesterday when he rolled down a 
few steps, he came to me crying and said, " Harold fall 
down ee steps and hurt hisself." Later he told me this 
again. I then said, " Harold should have sat down be- 
fore trying to creep down the steps." He promptly sat 
down on the floor and looked up at me, evidently not 
understanding my meaning, and I do not wonder that 
he did not when I analyze my sentence. 

124 



THIRD YEAR 

May 4th. — To-day, as we passed a toy-store, I let him 
go in and select a toy for himself. He took a calliope 
on wheels, and pushed it all the way home, a distance 
of about four blocks. When we reached home he sat 
on the floor and held the toy so that he could turn the 
wheels to make the music. He had evidently studied 
out for himself on the way home, by alternately mov- 
ing and stopping the toy, that the moving wheels caused 
the music, for he had never seen one before. He then 
went to the machine-drawer for a screw-driver, returned 
to his toy, and tried to take out the nail that held the 
handle which was in his way when turning the wheel 
in his lap. He asked me to do it when he found he 
couldn't manage it. A curious thing I notice about him 
is that he does not care for toys simply because they are 
toys. He has frequently refused them, one after the 
other, when offered any from a selection in a toy-shop. 
"When he finds one that to him seems to have a purpose 
he will gladly take it. He has often surprised shop- 
keepers by leaving without taking anything that he 
could have within his limit. He usually has the amount 
limited before he goes in — as, for instance, " Harold, you 
may have a quarter, a half-dollar, or a dime to-day," 
and he is content to keep within his limit. (The record 
shows that when he was older he would save until he 
had enough money to buy something of importance — as, 
for instance, a tool-chest, a tricycle, or an express-wagon, 
and it was always for something that he could make use 
of. He was never allowed to receive money from any 
one but his parents.) 

He is allowed to choose for himself as often as pos- 
sible in matters that relate to himself only as an 
individual, but care is taken to indicate to him the 

125 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

probable result if he should make a wrong selection. 
The greater part of his regular amusement comes 
from finding out and playing with the things he finds 
about the house — i.e., clothes - pins, blocks, pictures, 
kitchen utensils, etc. Very few toys are purchased for 
him that have no purpose, and he never receives many 
at a time. 

Last evening I heard him sing " Ding Dong Bell " all 
the way through, using the right words and singing the 
melody correctly. 

He heard us speaking of a cat to-day. He instantly 
said, " Crumpety and lame," associating cat with Moth- 
er Tabby Skins in Mother Goose. He often tells his 
mother to " Look (at) sunshine, mamma." He evidently 
loves it very much. 

May 8th. — To-day when he saw me take up his gold- 
link dress buttons, he said " Hadn't for a long time," and 
repeated it to a little playmate. He has not seen them 
for a long time. He heard the door-bell ring. The ser- 
vant clown-stairs had forgotten to turn off the connec- 
tion, and the bell outside of the nursery door rang too. 
This happens frequently, and annoys us very much. He 
said, "Did you hear dat bell ring? Maggie, turn dat 
bell off." 

His first greeting to any playmates coming in is, 
" Come, build a house," taking their hands and leading 
them to his toys. 

May 10th. — To-day he found his little photograph- 
book, which he has not had for some time. He seized 
it eagerly, and said, " Have it for a long time," meaning 
that he didn't " have it for a long time." 

May 14th. — To-day he was out all the afternoon. We 
took a long ride on the street-car, to an extreme end of 

126 



THIRD YEAR 

town. He gave a sigh of satisfaction and said, " Had 
a lovely ride on the treet-car." He now says " treet " 
sometimes, instead of "steet," as formerly. Evidently 
he cannot manage the r and s together. He then drew 
me in the right direction and said, " See the choo- 
choos." We had been to this place about a week before, 
when he saw some large engines, and remembered it. 

May 15th. — To-day he went to the sewing-machine 
and touched every moving part. He touched no part 
that was stationary. 

May 16th. — We returned to the country to-day for 
the summer. As we crossed the bridge leading to our 
street he kept saying, " Want to see Bahdee, Bahclee, 
Bahdee." (The name of the cat he left behind when he 
went to town, four months before.) 

May 17th. — He said to his father this morning, "I see 
a little baby in papa's eye," meaning his own reflection. 

I gave him some water to pour from cup to cup. He 
then asked for a little pitcher belonging to him, evi- 
dently preferring to pour from that. When I gave it to 
him he said, " Dear little white pitcher." He still shows 
a great liking for white things. 

He now helps me put away one set of playthings be- 
fore bringing out another. If I help very little and 
loiter, to try him, he will do much more than his share 
of the work without seeming to notice that he has done 
nearly all himself. 

In June he took up a postal-card and said, " I want to 
write a postal- card. Write a postal -card to Annie." 
(The nurse we had in town, who has gone away.) 

When we were walking along the street to-day he 
picked up a stick shaped like this, .^-"""V and called it a 
" tick, tack, too." He found another, and said, " Here's 

127 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

another tick, tack, too." Later, when we were looking 
at a scrap-book, he saw some cards with crosses like this, 

1 — , and he said, " Tick, tack, too, again," and said, 

" Want to see more tick, tack, toos." lie picked out 
every picture that had a cross. He also picked up a 
half-broken match that looked like this, ^^^\ and he 
said, " Tick, tack — " Then he stopped and said, " That's 
a hammer." I then noticed his association with the 
illustration of the nursery song : 

"Is John Smith within? 
Yes, that he is. 
Can he nail a shoe ? 
Aye, marry two. 
Here's a nail, there's a nail, 

Tick, tack, too. 
Here's a nail, there's a nail, 

Tick, tack, too." 

The illustration to the song represents a man holding a 
hammer that is not unlike a picture of a cross, and he 
noticed the resemblance to all the things he had just 
called " tick, tack, too." 

August 4th. — To-day, while I was reading, I heard 
him say to himself as we lay on the floor : 

"He brushed his teeth with carpet tacks, 
Polly, wolly doodle all a day." 

He heard it in June, when in New York, two months 
ago. 

Day before yesterday he said, " Dr. come to see 

Baby (a little friend of his) ; put him on table. 

Baby see what in Dr. 's satchel. What did Dr. 

(mentioning another physician) do with satchel? 

Dr. (mentioning the first one) has choo-choo in 

123 



THIRD YEAR 

satchel for Baby ." It was said to himself in a very 

meditative manner, with no apparent fear or excite- 
ment, more than a year after the time he was so im- 
pressed with the ether-bottle. 

(From now on all records other than cuttings and 
drawings were taken at longer intervals than before, 
yet they serve to show the growth made during the 
time no record was taken. It was during this period 
that the child was busy with scissors and pencil, giving 
concrete results of a method of training that evidently 
excited self -activity to a great degree.) 

September 23d. — This morning I directed Harold's 
attention to half a dozen sparrows on a roof near by. 
They flew away one by one, and left only two, then one, 
then the last one went. He turned to me and said, "He 
got too much alone, he flew away," recalling the song of 

" Three crows there were once who sat on a stone, 

Fal-la, la-la, la-la ; 
But two flew away and then there was one, 

Fal-la, la-la, la-la. 
The other crow felt so timid alone, 

Fal-la, la-la, la-la, 
That he flew away and then there was none, 

Fal-la, la-la, la-la." 

This morning he told his father he had cried last night. 
His father asked him why. He said he wanted to see 
him take doggie out walking, which was the true state 
of affairs. He has not the slightest fear of his father, 
and looks upon him in the light of a delightful playmate. 
He has often begged his mother during the day to 
promise to let him have him " all alone " until his bed- 
time. If she promises, and forgets to allow him his 
father's undivided attention, he invariably reminds her 
i 129 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

of it in a very much injured tone. lie seems to feel that 
he never has enough time with him, and he counts Sun- 
days from the Monday previous, saying, " How many 
days, mamma, to Sunday ?" 

This morning he tripped over a newspaper, and said 
to his mother, " I didn't mean to do that, mamma." 
When being dressed he waved his foot with a long white 
stocking partly on, and said, " This is a boat with a 
sail." He looked out of the window and saw a grocer 
boy coming in. He called, "Hello, Gordon!" then said, 
" Must go down to see Gordon." This same boy draws 
pictures of some sort for him every morning. He be- 
gan it voluntarily, and after that Harold insisted upon 
having one daily. He generally asks for an engine. 

September 24th. — This morning, when he showed me 
his father's watch, I said, in a tone of surprise, " Is it 
twenty minutes of nine?" He dangled the watch a 
minute, and then returning to his father, he said, in a 
very sedate way, " This watch is slow, papa." 

November 6th. — This morning when I was putting 
him to sleep at nap-time, I placed him on the bed and 
left. I returned a moment later, when he evidently did 
not expect me, for he was creeping back to bed and say- 
ing to himself, " I promise you I won't creep off the bed 
again ; that's right ; that's a good boy. You will for- 
give me." He seems to know as well as we do when 
he is doing wrong, and if we give him half a chance he 
rights matters himself. 

(The record shows that as he grew older he took 
great pains to tell his mother several times that he 
wanted to do right because it was right to do so. One 
time he was found crying because he had transgressed. 
She said, " Never mind, Harold, you were a little bit care- 

130 



THIRD YEAR 

less this time; do better next time." And he replied, 
between his sobs, " But I don't want to be careless.'''' 
He could not be diverted until his sense of fun was 
aroused. Then he had a romp, and forgot all about it.) 

Yesterday he couldn't at first take upon his spoon 
some cranberry-sauce that he was eating. He carefully 
scraped it to the middle of the dish, and taking a crust 
of bread pushed it on the spoon. He shows himself 
equal to the occasion many times, and he always pre- 
fers to help himself if he can do it. We do not offer to 
do anything for him that we see he is equal to, for he 
is very ready to come to us for assistance when he wants 
it, for we never turn him away, and thus we gain leisure 
and he strength by letting him do for himself. 

He has shown a disposition lately to get out of his 
crib at nap- time, with the hope of inducing me to let 
him off, so I resort to pulling the crib away from every 
piece of furniture in the room upon which he can pos- 
sibly step as he tries to get out. To do this I pull it 
down into the middle of the room before putting him 
in, when he says, " Pull crib down the middle because 
Harold was bad boy to get out of bed." He howls 
sometimes when he sees me do it, but he always goes 
to sleep at once when it is done. It is really very amus- 
ing. I wonder if he thinks he can't get out. He climbs 
all over it in every way during the day. Maybe it is 
"moral suasion" that influences him, or he may realize 
that I intend that he shall go to sleep, and accommo- 
dates himself to circumstances. But I often wonder 
why he doesn't get out, for he could easily do it. 

Some time ago he saw two of his engines heading in 
opposite directions. He pointed to one and said, " This 

one is going to C n Avenue Station, and this one to 

131 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

G e Avenue Station," mentioning the two stations 

between which we live. He pointed in the right direc- 
tion each time. He also knows in which direction to 
look for " papa's train from town." 

December 3d. — To-day, for the first time, he drew a 
"choo-choo" himself. (See illustration opposite.) As 
he drew it he explained each part, as noted, and handled 
his pencil very rapidly. He is just two years and ten 
months old. 

February 1, 1893. — This morning he said to me, 
" May I walk over to call papa?" I said " Yes." He 
jumped out of bed, and, carrying his pencils and his be- 
loved "schlussel book" under his arm, he went through 
the hall, singing out at the top of his voice, " Old rags, 
old rags, any old rags to-day?" When he had called 
his father he ran away from him all around the room, 
as if in mischief, and wouldn't even allow him to lift 
him upon the bed, where he usually sits and watches 
him dress, and keeps up a running fire of comments 
and questions that are very amusing. As soon as he 
saw his mother come he let her place him on the bed 
and cover him. He evidently looks to her for discipline 
and to his father for pure fun, which is as it should be. 
He loves her dearly, but as he sees her so much more 
frequently than he sees his father, it seems a pity to 
spoil one minute of the time they are together by an 
attempt to assert authority. 

(The record shows that as he grew older he often 
spoke of the good times he would have with mamma 
and papa when he got big enough to take care of them. 
He once told me, after having heard fairy-stories about 
princes and marriage, that when he got married he 
would live with mamma, as he would never want to 

132 




THE FIRST CHOO-CHOO 



1S92 AND 1893 DRAWINGS AND CUTTINGS THE CHILD S EARLIEST EFFORTS 

His explanation of "the first choo-ohoo " was : A. smoke-stack; B, sand-box ; C, 
steam-drum; D, cab; E E, one line for boiler; F F F F, wheels. 



THIRD YEAR 

leave her. One of his greatest anticipated delights was 
that when he would be ten years old he could go to 
"papa's office" and take the letters to the post-office. 
This wish on his part gave rise to a story that I told 

him — " When H is ten years old, what will he do ?" 

— and which he demanded repeatedly. It is worth not- 
ing that his greatest pleasure seemed to be that he could 
then help papa, just as he was now learning to help 
mamma. Who will dare to say that Froebel did not 
understand children when he urged mothers to let them 
make their hearts glad by allowing them to give pres- 
ents and by helping them to help others.) 

To-day I sat down for a moment in the kitchen, and 
as I was giving directions I took up and looked into a 
cook-book that was lying on the table. He passed by, 
looked at me, and said, "Are you looking what Mrs. 

R r says ?" mentioning the author's name correctly. 

I do not know how he found out her name. He is 
constantly surprising us by knowledge of this sort. We 
go along blindly when we think that children do not 
see things. I have no doubt at all of the fact that 
children know us far better than we know them, and 
were they able to express themselves in terms that we 
in our self-assumed strength could understand, I think 
we would be glad to change some of the cruel methods 
of training children that prevail at present. The pity 
of it all impresses one when one thinks of the opportu- 
nities that are wasted. Child-study is a work for all, 
but parents have the Jirst opportunity. 

Last Thursday, at the C n Avenue Station, Harold 

was properly introduced to a very good friend. He 
was very shy, would not speak to her when I told him 
to say "good-morning," and apparently took no notice 

133 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

of her. "When we reached home he said, " I was scairt 

of Mrs. ," saying her name correctly enough to let 

any one know of whom he was speaking, although it 
was a peculiar name, and I hadn't the least idea that he 
would remember it. In the evening he told his father 
all about it, and mentioned the name several times. In 
spite of his peculiar accent his father knew whom he 
meant. 

He has been going around lately saying, " I'm a 
little girl. I am six years old to-day." This is clearly 
imitation. A little girl said it to him a few weeks ago, 
and he himself is only three. He gives constant evidence 
of a retentive memory. He tells me constantly of little 
things that occurred a year and a half ago, personal 
matters that he recollects clearly. 

February 2d. — He said to-day, "Doctor won't put 
medicine on my face ; my cheeks are well," referring to 
the ether-bottle again. He asked the other day, in ref- 
erence to this same event, " And did they all go away? 

-and did Dr. go ? and did Dr. go ? and did Dr. 

take his satchel ? and did the one doctor come back 

next day?" Then, "What did he do, mamma?" She 
always replies to this question, " He said, ' Good-morn- 
ing,' " and tries to divert him. The other day he asked 
his father if he had been laid on the nursery-table, and 
if he had had a blanket and a pillow, etc. He evidently 
realizes that he can get no information from me, and he 
is now trying to get his father to tell him. He always 
says "Ask mamma," so eventually the child will have 
to give the matter up, as he would have done long ago 
had more care been taken in regard to his impressions 
at the time. (Ignorance is responsible for many evils, 
but who is responsible for this ignorance ? "Will women 

134 




1893 DRAWINGS — THREE TEARS OLD 



A, a boy flying a kite ; a, man in moon ; b, sky ; c, kite ; d, big knot in string ; e, hat ; f, curly 
hair ; g, "shoulder ; h, foot turned over ; i, watch ; B, a boy in front of an engine — frightened ; 
C, first attempt at drawing a clock ; D, " he has his hand in his pocket " ; E, " a boy crying because 
his mother is lame "; F, inverted letters ; H, kitchen dresser ; I, telegraph pole. 



THIRD YEAR 

ever be taught in the future, that looks so promising, 
that which they should certainly know? How few even 
understand the questions of hygiene or food, not to 
speak of their connection with the promotion of moral 
and mental development. Might it not be well for all 
reformers, educators, and philanthropists to follow the 
method adopted by some to-day — i.e., beginning at the 
foundation and seeing that children are treated as they 
should be? and might they not better utilize hereafter 
the vast sums of money they now expend for the cure of 
much that might be prevented by helping to educate 
the mothers of the future as well as those of the present, 
taking up the work in a forceful manner in connection 
with existing schools as well as in a scattered, general 
way, as is now being done ? This is so truly a national 
question that even the various governmental powers 
might wisely concern themselves with its practical ap- 
plication, in which lies the key-note of social and politi- 
cal reform. 

February 3d. — To-day Harold saw some photographs 
of two cousins, who are totally unlike in appearance, 
each representing a distinct type. He had not seen the 
girls for nine months, but he knew the pictures at once. 
After having designated them correctly once, he pre- 
tended ever after — for mischief, evidently — that one was 
the other. 

He knows ail the nursery songs now, words and tunes, 
and if we make mistakes when repeating them he always 
corrects us. 

He blew soap-bubbles successfully for the first time 
to-day. When he began he couldn't find his clay pipe, 
so he ran away, and soon returned with a beautiful 
one, and said, doubtingly, " Is this Harold's V He 

135 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

feared it wasn't, for good reason. I went with him to 
see where he had found it. He led me to a drawer 
devoted to his father's pipes, which he had never 
attempted to disturb before. I did not want to disap- 
point the little fellow, so I said he might have it, 
although he has been taught not to disturb another's 
belongings. He then amused himself by blowing bub- 
bles for a very long time — blowing them along the floor 
and stamping upon them. 

The other day, when in a sleigh, the driver touched one 
of the horses with the whip, and Harold said, " He has no 
business to whip the horse." (The record later on shows 
how he always had great sympathy for horses — once, when 
six years old, going so far as to persuade a neighboring 
green-grocer to promise never to dock his horse's tail.) 

Yesterday he said to me about a little playmate whom 
he loves, " Mamma, isn't Christine a lovely girl ?" He 
saw some little girls on the street a few days ago, and 
he admired them very much. As he directed my atten- 
tion to them he said, "I like little girls to come home to 

me." Mary T , an old playmate, who used to come 

regularly to play with him, came to see him a few days 
ago. He was so delighted to see her that he hovered 
over her all the time she was with him. He paid no 
attention whatever to me. He said to her once, " I love 
you, Mary." He had not seen her for a year. He 
remembers the names of three servants and a laundress 
who were with us during the last year. He calls his 
present nurse " My Mar} 7 ," as some of the other incum- 
bents possessed the name of Mary also. He never for- 
gets his first nurse, and often asks for her. When she 
comes to see him, at intervals of possibly six months, he 
always knows her. 

136 





AN EFFORT AT DRAWING A ROUND FRONT FOR AN 
ENGINE 



APGP/S ^OHleiKJMUPp, 



HIS PET BUTTERFLY FEEDING ON 
HIS FINGER 




EARLY PRINTING 



M-^ 



vim 







AN EFFORT AT THE HORIZON 




AN ENGINE AND TENDER 



1893 AND 1S94 DRAWINGS 

1893— Printed letters ; an engine and tender. 1894— An effort at the horizon ; a pig ; 
an effort at drawing a round front for an engine. 



THIRD YEAR 

He has taken to winding string lately. To-day I was 
very much amused to see him place a small paper-box 
upon a chair, in which he dropped a spool of thread, 
letting the end dangle outside. He covered the box 
with a small drawing - slate, to keep the spool from 
jumping out as he wound the thread. I do not know 
how he discovered that the spool would jump out 
when winding briskly, but I suppose he must have tried 
it when I was not looking. He pulled his little chair up 
to the larger one holding the box with the thread, and 
began pulling out the thread hand over hand. This he 
did for a long time. Then he came to me and said, 
" I got myself stuck," meaning he had become entangled 
in the thread, which, although a natural sequence, was 
of no importance, when one considers that he had pro- 
vided for himself a satisfying occupation for the time 
being. He plays in this way by the hour, chatting with 
me all the time, but going on with his play as if it were 
a work to be finished with the end of day only. He 
comes to me occasionally for a suggestion, saying, " What 
may I do ?" But he usually finds occupation for him- 
self for the whole day when I provide sufficient mate- 
rial for diversion, telling him that it is all for his amuse- 
ment throughout the day. The kitchen-maid frequently 
lets him " clean the dresser," as he calls it. He takes 
out all the pots and pans, attempts to sweep the floor 
with a brush, and then he hangs the utensils up again 
where he thinks they belong. This amuses him im- 
mensely, and it occupies him long enough to give others 
a considerable time for rest from supervision. 

February 4th. — To-day he said, "Cousin Eddie be a 
boy, mamma. Why doesn't papa be a boy ?" 

Last month he said, " I played fall up and down the 

137 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

stairs several times." This was the first time he said 
" several." 

February 5th. — To-day when he said" where," he em- 
phasized the wh by blowing it out of his mouth very for- 
cibly. He told nurse that she must not say " me face," but 
"my face." He told some one else not to say "ain't" but 
" isn't." He frequently asks me to tell him if it is correct 
to say certain words in a certain way, and he evidently 
thinks of it himself between times. He told me to-day 
that he would go to God when He was ready for him. 
He said God would give him wings to fly to Him. He 
has evidently drawn these conclusions from answers that 
he has received from some one beyond our control. I 
mentioned God quite unintentionally in his presence 
recently, and ever since he has kept up asking questions 
about Him — " whether He is a man, has a gown, a bath- 
tub, where He lives," etc. He was told at this time of 
God being over all the world, caring for it, as his 
father and mother were over him and the family. His 
love and power were spoken of. Harold now calls to 
Him in a very original way. The other evening he 
walked to the window in his night-dress, pulled down 
the slats of the shutters, and peeped through to the sky, 
calling loudly, "God, God, come down and bless papa, 
and bless mamma, and bless Harold !" He shut the 
shutters then and went to his crib, saying he heard God 
say He would come. (To the present date he shows the 
same belief in hearing an answer to any prayer he 
offers. He says his " think " tells him.) 

February 7th. — He said to-night, in connection with 
some kindergarten songs, " Mamma, will you and I go 
to New York and buy a new book of songs, and I can 
read and bead and EEAD ?" When we sang the kin- 

138 




EARLY CUTTINGS 



EARLY CUTTINGS 




LOCOMOTIVES, A BAGGAGE-CAR, AND A STEAMBOAT 



1894 CUTTINGS 

Among the cuttings not designated, the one on the lower left hand of the group is 
intended to represent a mule, and on the lower right hand an ostrich turning his head. 



THIRD YEAR 

dergarten song of exercise to-day, he tried to imitate 
my movements the second time. The third time he did 
it correct^, and he often repeats the whole song now. 
From time to time I give him memory exercise in this 
way, but I do it very gradually. 



CHAPTER IV 

FOURTH YEAR. RECORD OF SPONTANEOUS DEVELOP- 
MENT AFTER THE CHILD WAS THREE YEARS OLD, 
WITH SELECTIONS OF DRAWINGS AND CUTTINGS, 
ALL MENTAL PICTURES, DONE AS A RESULT OF 
SELF-ACTIVITY, AND ACCOMPANIED BY THE CHILD'S 
EXPLANATIONS 

February 14, 1893. — To-day Harold is three years old. 
He awoke at seven, asked for his books and to have the 
blind raised, and sat up to amuse himself, as he does 
every morning, if he wakes before it is time for him to 
be dressed. This is when he does most of his cutting 
and drawing, after having been fed. It is a regular 
habit to place his material at the foot of his bed every 
.night, and in the morning we have a serious time of it 
picking up papers and throwing out what he allows us 
to call trash. 

This morning, instead of cutting, he read " A Froggie 
"Would A-wooing Go." He knows every word of it 
from memory, turns the pages at the right time, and 
takes great delight in using various tones and gestures 
to illustrate each phase of the story. When he had fin- 
ished reading it and I said it was time to rise, he 
called to his father in another room, as he usually does, 
saying to me, " Is that loud ?" Receiving no reply, he 
shook his head, said " He won't hear," and went on with 
his play until the maid came to dress him. Shortly 
after his father had left for his regular train, rather more 

140 




1893 DRAWINGS — ENGINES 



A, "This is a man raking the fire, mamma" ; B, round front to engine ; C, "engine out at 
night time— a, is the moon"; D, "envelope and stamp"; E, "pictures on the wall." 



FOURTH YEAR 

leisurely than usual, Harold heard one go by and said, 
" That's papa's train ; he didn't miss that one." 

I took him out to-day to buy a birthday present. As 
we walked along he told me he loved to go out, asked 
if he was going to the barber -shop, and when I said 
" No," he said, " Then where are we going ?" I said, " To 
buy a present." This delighted him. He is always so 
reasonable about buying things for himself that we take 
pleasure in giving him little surprises of this kind. When 
he asks for anything beyond his limit, he is always per- 
fectly satisfied if we tell him that some day he will pos- 
sibly get it. He seems to enjoy the anticipation, and 
many an hour have we spent looking at "possible" 
future gifts, while he was incidentally learning to con- 
trol his desires. (Sometimes I am able to give an order, 
unknown to him, to have something that he has just 
admired sent home next da}'', and he thinks it a won- 
derful thing, next day, when he receives what he saw 
and admired the day before. In this easy way, by 
thinking ahead, we keep him happy all the time, and 
also very busy, for his toys all require work or motion 
upon his part. When he was five, and using tools, his 
mother at Christmas-time spent two hours in a hard- 
ware-store hunting out various little odds and ends that 
would please him — different sizes of nails, screws, pul- 
leys, hinges, rings, silver wire, a gimlet, etc. — and of all 
the Christmas presents received this one pleased him 
most, and the whole lot cost forty-nine cents.) 

While we were walking along I told him he was three 
years old, and his father thirty-three ; he promptly asked 
me how many threes his mother was old. He saw some 
rabbits for sale and thought he would like to have one 
for his birthday present, so I allowed him to choose one 

141 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

and take it home himself. He picked out a black and 
white one, and wanted to come home at once " to build 
a house for it." When we reached a bridge on our way 
home, on which he invariably stops to see the " choo- 
choos," he wouldn't wait a moment, although I sug- 
gested it. He said he didn't want to, he wanted to go 
home and build a house in his nursery for his rabbit. 
Home we went and built a house out of a store- box. 
He was happy for the whole day, feeding and caring for 
his pet. He talked to it as if it could understand him, 
and at bedtime he bent over the door of its house and 
said, " Good-night ; I'll call you in the morning." 

He was so sleepy he could hardly keep awake long 
enough to ask where his paper choo-choos were. "When 
I told him, he was content, nestled up against me, and 
fell asleep. He hadn't quite forgotten them, but it was 
evident that his engines will have rivals in live pets. 

(The record shows a love of nature and animals that 
is fully equal to the evidence given further on of a 
strong bent for mechanics. He had at various times as 
pets — mice, kittens, dogs, butterflies, rabbits, snails, tad- 
poles, spiders, frogs, crabs, etc., and he seems to have 
learned in this way to be gentle with anything alive, 
having been known to lift even a worm out of harm's 
way when digging in his garden.) 

He received his first locomotive a year ago, when he 
was two years old. To-day (three years old) we dis- 
covered him very busy with a string and one of his 
present stock of locomotives. He soon called to his 
mother to come and see what he had done. " See the 
connecting-rod, mamma; see how it works," and so it 
did. He had fastened the string to the centre of the 
driving-wheel, connected it with the c} T lmder, and was 

142 




1893 DRAWINGS — BOATS, TROLLEYS, ETC. 

A, street-car ; B, fire-engine — engine going over a bridge; C, stationary engine; D, the child 
recognized an old Philadelphia traction-car ou a country electric road, and called it a cable-car going 
by electricity, then made the drawing. 



FOURTH YEAR 

delighted with the result, possibly because he felt that 
he had replaced to his satisfaction the connecting-rod 
that had been inadvertently broken off a day or two be- 
fore, but just as likely because he felt he had achieved 
something, which characteristic seems to be distinctly 
noticeable in all children that are not feeble-minded. 

During the afternoon he was singing " Little star that 
shines so bright . . , when I my homeward journey 
take," etc. When he reached the word journey he sang 
on, " When papa goes to town he takes a journey, 
when papa comes back he takes a journey," and went 
on with his play, not noticing that I had heard him. 
He doesn't seem to mind my presence — for when busy 
he apparently forgets all about me — yet if I leave he 
misses me at once. So I usually attend to my duties 
and read a great deal when sitting in the same room 
with him while he plays. Last night, when he woke 
for a drink, he saw his mother writing a letter, said 
" Don't write, mamma," turned over and fell asleep. 

February 15th. — To-day he had some yellow-jack candy 
for the first time. When about taking him out-of-doors, 
his mother put a piece of it in her mouth, unknown to 
him. As she put on his coat he looked at her quizzically 
and said," I want a piece of yellow-jack; I smell it ; mam- 
ma, open your mouth." She did so, but only partially. 
He said " Wide"; so she let him see that she had taken a 
piece. He smiled and said, " I smelled it." She then told 
him he could have a piece when he came in. He remem- 
bered this, and she had no trouble to get him to come in 
when it was time. This was not done to bribe him, but 
simply because it would be the most natural time for 
him to receive it, after going in again, instead of send- 
ing some one back to get a piece for him when he 

143 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

spoke of it. He was never waited on to the exclusion 
of every one else's comfort, although all his wants 
were attended to, and often even anticipated ; but this 
was done without his being conscious of it, and he was 
allowed to help himself and others so far as possible. 
"When he began at this date, as he did, to demand service 
from the servants as if it were his right — politely, it is 
true, yet authoritatively, as if he recognized their posi- 
tion — he was taught, by examples that were pointed out 
to him, why a servant should be treated gently and 
courteously, as well as any one else with whom he had 
to do, and how, by not demanding, he would receive 
loving service. (The record shows clearly, later on, 
how he became uniformly gentle and kind with people 
who were not harsh, no matter in what condition of life 
he found them. And one of the greatest problems now 
before his mother is how to fully explain to him how 
he shall kindly adapt himself to the people about him 
without losing his own rights.) 

To-night he asked me if his rabbit had teeth, and if it 
would bite or kiss. 

February 18th. — Before going to sleep to-night he 
said, " Mamma, I want to talk to Katie a few moments" 
This is the first time he has said " moments." He is con- 
stantly saying words that are unusual for so young a 
child, and his understanding of their application is some- 
times ludicrous, but generally surprisingly correct. 

February 20th. — He heard the word peacocks to-day, 
and said, " Mamma, do peacoucks couck ? Do peacoucks 
eat pease ?" 

February 21st. — He said, to-day, after the severe wind- 
storm, bitter cold, and frosted windows of yesterday, 
" Mamma, it isn't cold to-day, the windows don't rattle." 

144 




1893 DRAWINGS ENGINES THREE YEARS OLD 

A, elephant, and children taking a ride ; engines and trolley cars. 




1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD 



A, effort at writing "Thank you," after asking how to spell it ; B, b, b, early efTorts at engine, 
pussy, and steamboat ; C, called if, "writing bis name/' and the frame, ho said, was a pipe with 
smoke curling around ; D, "man in the moon"; E, "man in the rain"; F. head and hat ; G, "a 
man without any arms— they were cut off, like the music man's legs"; H, effort at horizon ; I, 
engine and man 'in the moon ; J, his stuffed kitty ; K, house and woman 



FOURTH YEAR 

March 22d. — As we crossed the ferry going to New 
York to-day, he said to his mother as we came in the 
slip, " Oh, mamma, why does it make soap-water ? See, 
the water is all soapy." 

At the station he heard torpedoes on the track and 
said, " Is that thunder ?" (This is the time that he first 
observed the differences in boats, and his constant ques- 
tions during a week's visit and much ferry-crossing were, 
"What's that?" and "Why is that?" Every question 
was answered so that he could understand, by building 
up from what he already knew, and he carried home 
with him a vast increase to his fund of information 
that is being acquired by persistent questioning.) 

November 23d. — He said, to-day, " Lorenzo learned me 
to cry." I said, "No, he taught you." He then said, 
" It is / that learns, isn't it ?" He is three and a half 
years old now. 

December 25th. — His prayer, as follows, on Christmas 
evening, was voluntary, for we let him pray just as and 
when he feels like it. He said, " God bless papa and 
mamma, and God bless Harold and Katie (his maid), 
God bless my Christmas-tree, God bless Santa Claus, 
and everybody you can find in your house in the sky." 

To-day — Christmas — he said he felt so happy and 
pleased with Santa Claus for giving him such a nice 
Christmas-tree. He selected voluntarily enough toys to 
fill a large portmanteau — taking books, old and new toys, 
fruit and candy — " to take out," as he said, " to some poor 
little boy who hadn't any papa." He has divined or 
heard in some way that Santa Claus comes where there 
is a " papa." When he asked me in such a way that I 
could not escape answering, I explained to him that 
Santa Claus represented the spirit of love abroad for 
k 145 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

everybody at Christmas - time, and, like the Brownies, 
we couldn't see him. I have not explained to him yet 
about Christ, so I could not go on with the idea, but he 
accepted the suggestion, and seems to revel in the fanci- 
ful thought of Santa. We went out to find the poor 
little boy, and we had a difficult search, after a long 
walk, during which he said to himself, " I will be the 
little boy's Santa Claus. I pity the poor little boy 
without any papa." 

We found a mother with three little tots in rags. 
They had no tree, no toys — in fact, hardly enough to 
eat. Harold is very shy, and I had to persuade him to 
hand his toys himself. I wanted him to taste the pleas- 
ure of giving. He did it very shyly, and it was a pretty 
sight to see the ragged urchins crowd about him, each 
to take what he offered without any question as to 
which would get the most. When we returned he was 
■well content and happy all day through, although he 
had given away many treasured toys. The chief beauty 
'of the act was that no one would have found it out, 
not even his parents, if it had depended upon him for 
the telling, for he never spoke of it again, and seemed to 
have forgotten all about it, nor did any one else ever 
mention it in his presence. 

When he was nearly four years old his uncle and 

Aunt C came to see us, and while I was engaged 

with his uncle he took up a new book that he had just 
received and brought it to me, begging me to read to 
him about the pigs in it. The book had a number of 
illustrations, and nearly every one had the picture of a 
pig in it. To divert him, his aunt called him to her, 
sa}dng she would read to him. As it was twilight she 
could not see to read, so improvised the following verses 

146 




1893 DRAWINGS 
With the exception of the horse mid wagon, drawn in May, 1894. 



FOURTH YEAR 

to catch his interest and keep him from disturbing our 
conversation. It was the first time that Harold had 
heard any of us use " baby talk " ; 

"A piggie, wiggie, wiggie, 
Went to beddie, beddie, beddie. 
On his pillow willie, willie, 
He laid his headie, headie, headie. 

" But piggie, wiggie, wiggie, 
Couldn't sleepie, sleepie, sleepie, 
So out bis beddie biggie, 
He creepie, creepie, creepied. 

" He jumped, he hopped, he trotted 
Across the floor so bold, 
To reach the shining faucet, 
With water, oh, so cold ! 

"He splashie, splashie, splashied, 
He dashie, dashie, dashied, 
The water, water, water, 
On his facie, facie, face. 

"He wet his eyesie eyes, 
His cheekie, cheekie, cheeks, 
His nosie, nosie, nose, 
His headie, headie, head. 

"Oh, the water, water, water, 
Was so cold, so cold, so cold, 
But he laughie, laughie, laughied, 
For it felt so good, so good, so good. 

" Then back to beddie, beddie, 
Went piggie, wiggie, wiggie ; 
He slept, you may believe it, 
Like any piggie wig." 
147 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

He was very much amused, and begged her to tell it 
again. Then he went for his engine-book (one that was 
full of illustrations of English and American engines), 
and said, entreatingly, " Aunt C , read the engine- 
book funny — puffy, puffy, puff." 




1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD 



A, kitchen utensils ; B, kitchen chairs, table, etc. ; C— a. kitchen stove ; b, inverted letters : 
c, dog with bell in his nose ; d, elephant with bell in his nose ; D, windmill. 



CHAPTER V 

RECORD CONTINUED — NATURE STORIES — TRAINING 
BUTTERFLIES AND WHITE MICE— THE CHILD'S FIRST 
EFFORT AT RELATING A STORY WHEN HE WAS 
FOUR YEARS OLD 

FEEteuAHY 14, 1894. — To-day I was trying to draw a 
pussy for Harold, and when I drew the whiskers I said, 
" Doggies don't have whiskers." He said, " ISTo, they 
have only fleas." 

February 19th. — He was looking at a large picture 
of a naval review, and pointed to a three -mast vessel 
and said, "I never saw one like that before." Then 
pointing to two walking -beams, one at each end of 
the picture, he said, " There are two ferry-boats like I 

saw on the ribber when I was at Baby N 's house. 

There's a sail-boat. There is no tug-boat here. What's 
that ?" pointing to a cannon. I said, " Don't you remem- 
ber seeing a cannon over at the square where there is a 
statue ?" He said " Yes," and asked what the wheel 
under it meant, and the tracks. His father then explained 
about its being a carriage to wheel around the cannon. 
He instantly asked whether there was a hinge there to 
make it go around. 

February 20th. — He told his mother the following 
story very seriously to-day, without a break from begin- 
ning to end. 

About a month ago I told him about " The Brownies 

149 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

and the Eain-drops," making it up for him as I went 
along. He was very fond of it, and asked for it repeat- 
edly, so I wrote it down. The one story may have sug- 
gested the other, but he has heard of the Brownies and 
had their books for a long time, and he has also heard of 
" Jack and the Bean-stalk " independently of my story. 
(At seven he still begs to hear both stories from time to 
time.) 

HAROLD'S STORY TO HIS MOTHER 

" Harold saw a house, and what do you suppose he 
saw right by it?" 

His mother said, " I don't know." 

He said, " Why, a great big bean-stork " (stalk), " and 
Harold climbed up the steps to the top of the house ; 
and what do you think he saw there?" 

" I don't know." 

" Why, a little Brownie. He said, ' Why, how do you 
do, Master Harold ?' and Harold said, ' How do you do, 
, Master Brownie ?' " (He then said to me in an aside, 
" His name was Mustard Brownie.") " ' Won't you come 
down with me, Mustard Brownie ?' " Then Mustard 
Brownie climbed down on one side of the steps, and 
Harold on the other, and when they got down to the 
ground Mustard Brownie took Harold's hand, and they 
walked and walked and walked until they came to 
Harold's house. 

"Harold said, 'Won't you come in this beautiful house 
and live with me, Mustard Brownie?' and he said he 
would, and went in with Harold. And what do you 
suppose Harold's nurse said to Mustard Brownie, hop- 
ping on the floor?" 

■" I don't know." 

150 




\, G 


~T O 1 i J 

1 T U 


a 






\y 


1 v 


1 1 




i 











1894 CUTTINGS AND 1893 AND 1894 PRINTED LETTER WORK 




1894 CUTTINGS — FOUR TEARS OLD 



A, shoe ; B, elephant ; C, a range with lots of fire- holes ; D, "a VeDico boat," he called it, 
with a ventilator and window ; E, bell. 



RECORD CONTINUED 

" 'Why, where do you come from, Mustard Brownie?' 
And he said : 

"'Harold saw me on top of the roof of a house and 
brought me here.' And what do you suppose he did 
then ? Hopped around on the floor and played with 
Harold's toys ; and that's all." 

The following is the story supposed to have sug- 
gested the preceding one of the child's : 

THE BROWNIES AND THE RAINDROPS 

One moonlight night a wee little Brownie met an- 
other little Brownie, who was much older than himself, 
and he asked him a question that had been bothering 
him all the long, long day : " Have we mammas and 
have we papas ?" 

" No, we are only Brownies — make-believes, the chil- 
dren call us. Come, let us go up to the sky and see the 
rain-drops." 

" But how will we get there ?" 

" Oh, upon a butterfly's back. I think there is a field 
full of them here." 

So away they went to the field, where they found 
many beautiful butterflies asleep amid the flowers. 
Brownies always travel at night and know just where 
to find what they want, for they are very wise. To 
the first butterfly they saw they said, " Please wake up 
and take us to the sky to see the rain-drops." 

" Certainly I will. We want them here, we are so 
thirsty." 

So up the Brownies jumped, but, alas ! they found the 
butterfly's back was too small to hold them. They 

151 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

asked another. He said, " Oh yes ; I will gladly go, 
I am so very warm. We want the rain-drops here." But, 
alas! he was too broad. The next was too thin' the 
next too fat. Another was so soft that the Brownies 
feared that they would go right through him. The last 
one they tried was, oh, so hard ! His back was as sharp 
as the edge of a knife. 

The butterflies couldn't take them, yet wanted so 
much to have the rain -drops, and the Brownies, too, 
wanted very much to learn how and where the rain- 
drops lived. The poor flowers in the field, also, were 
so very thirsty. What could they all do \ 

Well, the Brownies walked along, wondering and 
wondering, when they chanced to see what looked like 
large, beautiful trees, with steps running up the sides of 
the trees. Now these wise little Brownies knew all about 
the story of Jack and his Bean-stalk, and they thought 
that perhaps they had found a fairy bean-stalk. They 
picked out a tree that seemed higher to them than all 
^the others, and then they began to climb — high, higher, 
and yet higher, for every time they thought they were 
near the top up would seem to go another lot of steps. 
They kept on, however, pufiing and panting, until at 
last what do you think they saw ? (Here Harold al- 
ways says, "I don't know," waiting expectantly.) A 
beautiful white cloud, floating very near the highest 
step, and sitting upon the cloud was another little 
Brownie. How did he get there? They looked and 
looked, but after so hard a climb they hadn't any breath 
left to ask him how he came. Yery soon, however, 
after they had rested a little, they turned to find out 
all about it, when what do you think they saw ? (Har- 
old again says, " I don't know.") They saw he was go- 

152 




1894 CUTTINGS OF ENGINES 




1894 ENGINE AND CAR CUTTINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD 



RECORD CONTINUED 

ing down, down, down, far away from them and the 
cloud. "What could it all mean ? They soon found out. 
First they saw some rain-drops, like great, big, lovely 
drops of dew, all gathered together in this beautiful 
white cloud, one close against the other. They shone 
and glistened, and were almost too beautiful to look at. 
The little Brownies were quite afraid to speak to 
them, but they did try to say in a whisper : 
" The butterflies and flowers are very thirsty." 
The big drops heard them, and answered, saying : 
" Yes, we know, and we all are ready to give them 
a drink. Now sit very still and watch us." And just 
think of it ; the big cloud opened very gently, and the 
drops all rolled out, one by one at first, but very soon 
tumbling one over the other, just as fast as they could 
go, flashing and splashing, and whispering gently all 
the way down to Mother Earth, because they were so 
very glad to give a drink to the poor thirsty butterflies 
and flowers. As they were tumbling out, two of the 
last big drops turned very quickly to the Brownies and 
said : 

" Tour ladder is gone. Jump upon our backs if you 
want to get home before daylight comes." 

Now we all know very well that Brownies are good- 
natured little things, but they never let any one see 
them, so they knew very well that home they must go, 
and that very quickly. Their ladder was gone. They 
felt a little bit afraid to ride down to the earth on the 
rain-drops, yet what could they do? The big drops 
promised them they would go very gently, so each 
Brownie jumped up upon the back of a beautiful shin- 
ing drop, and sailed away, down, down, down, in the 
most delightful way, and where do you think they found 

153 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

themselves when they reached the end of their journey ? 
(Harold says, "I don't know.") 

"Why, one was upon the back of the fat butterfly, and 
the other was upon the back of the thin butterfly, and 
they heard both butterflies making a quiet little noise 
of pleasure because the rain had come. They did not 
see the Brownies, though, for the sunshine too had come. 

December 25th. — Me said, voluntarily to-night for his 
prayer, " I love you, God, but I can't always do what 
pleases you." The last was not suggested. He had 
been told that God liked to know that little boys loved 
Him, so he folded his hands, buried his face in his pil- 
low, and whispered the words. Afterwards he said he 
had something else to tell God, and repeated, " Please, 
God, tell mamma to bring, next Christmas, for my kitty" 
(said kitty is a stuffed cotton - print one) " a pair of 
crutches and a bed." He told me to - day that she 
was lame. All imagination. He idealizes her — she is 
everything to him. He takes her to bed with him 
every night. 

December 26th. — To-day when I read to him, " So 
Tray put his fore-feet in the milk," he asked, " Do 
two and two make four ?" thinking I meant four feet. 
Knowing there were two front and two hind feet, he 
made his first attempt at adding. I said, " Yes, just 
this way," holding up my fingers; "two fingers and 
two fingers make four fingers." He held up his little 
hand, separated the fingers in twos, and said, " This 
way- — one, two; one, two," counting each group. I said, 
"Yes; now how many altogether'^" He counted "One, 
two, three, four," and was satisfied, Which he is only 
when he understands the replies he receives. He never 
gives up questioning until he understands. I have often 

154 




1894 DRAWINGS— FOUR TEARS OLD 



A, duck ; B, trolley car going round a track ; C. " Harold lame on crutches and mamma looking 
out of the window"; ;>_a, is copy by child, reversed, of b, done bv another person ; E, scenes at 
a country fair— a, band-stand ; b. merry-go-round ; c, swing ; d, e'lephant-keeper with goad; F, 
faucets aud pipes ; G— a, bird on cherry-tree ; b, boy with bow and arrow shooting bird on apple- 
tree ; c, bird flying away. 




1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR TEARS OLD 

A, engine from copy, February 25, 1894 — as Harold's interest increased in engines his father 
would draw one for him, as above, probably once a fortnight— Harold alwavs made additions to his 
own copy ; B and D. early pen efforts ; E and C, first attempts at a round front for engines— he 
seemed never to have observed this feature before. 



RECORD CONTINUED 

heard him say, "What? What did you say?" meaning 
that he did not understand — not that he did not hear ; 
but until I would explain to others they would frequent- 
ly answer in the same words, over and over again, to 
every " what " he gave. He did not know how else to 
ask, and because I always understood what he meant 
by " what," he thought others did. 

I did not explain to him at this time about fore-feet 
meaning front feet, for he had enough to consider with 
his " two and two make four." 

We usually find out some way of making things clear 
by going from what he knows to the unknown— as, for 
instance, he asked once what a " calf " was, and I said, 
"A little cow." He said, "Oh, is that the way?" and 
asked no more. We can always trust to his asking ques- 
tions when he observes anything new, for he knows that 
he will be answered. He now possesses a fund of in- 
formation, acquired by questioning and from surround- 
ings, that is equal to that of a much older child, yet 
he has gained it all without the slightest effort beyond 
self-directed amusement, with no sign of precociousness, 
and without sacrificing in the least degree the oppor- 
tunities that were needed for correct physical develop- 
ment. 

He asked me this evening why we were not made to 
eat everything. I said things were made for different 
uses ; grown stomachs, if well cared for when little, 
could digest almost anything. Then he said, "But no 
— listen : why don't we eat vaseline instead of using 
it outside ?" I said we could, but we wouldn't like it. 
He is no doubt puzzling over internal and external uses 
of things. He asked me to-night how to spell " gan," of 
the word "Hogan." I said, "g-a-n." He then said, 

155 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

"Hello, Harold, here you are again. How do you spell 
that?" I said, "a-g-a-i-n," and he was satisfied. 

He is very fond of Slovenly Peter. "When asked 
what kind of a book it was, he said, very emphatically, 
"Slovenly Peter was made for naughty boys. You 
could read it to good boys to make them happy, and 
to naughty boys to make them good ; that's what it's 
made for." (An incipient reviewer.) 

The following story, which I wrote for Harold when 
he was about four years old, gives our experience with 
some pet mice, and shows, incidentally, how he was 
taught to be gentle with live creatures. He asks for it 
again and again : 

TWO WHITE MICE 

" TVhitey " and " Squealy." This is what Harold calls 
them. Whitey is the dearest little ball of fluff when sit- 
ting on her haunches cleaning her coat with fists made 
*of the smallest pair of hands you ever saw, for her front 
feet looked like little hands that have only four fingers 
and no thumbs. They are ever so much smaller than 
the hind feet, that have five toes that look like a thumb 
and four fingers. These hind feet are very strong, and 
Whitey often stands up on them like a kangaroo, lifting 
her nose high up into the air to sniff at something 
which she doesn't quite understand, but knows is there. 
Harold says she has only four fingers for each front 
foot, with no thumb to get in the way, because she can 
roll them up into fists more easily, which mousie always 
does when cleaning her fur, making them go so fast 
that you can only see something pink that is moving 
but has no distinct form. Harold also says mousie has 

156 




1804 DRAWINGS 

A, copy of a picture of an old English engine— clone from memory ; B, he drew a, a man before 
the engine which some one else drew — he also drew b, an engine to run over the figures in front, 
which were also drawn by some one else ; C, fire engine ; D, engine pushing a car ; E. he said, 
"Aren't they funny smiling little boys! I think I'd rather look at those than anything." 




1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD 
A, "a man shooting an ostrich"; B, "baby-coach. 



RECORD CONTINUED 

five toes on her hind feet so she may spread them out to 
stand on. Whitey's sense of smell, as is true of all 
mice, is wonderful. We often place a bit of cheese 
within several feet of her, just to see her drop every- 
thing instantly and run straight to the tempting morsel, 
where the least little bit of a nibble seems to satisfy her. 

She is a very dainty eater. She lives chiefly upon 
canary-seed, and to see her sitting beside us so fearlessly, 
holding a very little seed in her fore-paws, nibbling away 
to her heart's content, with a most knowing expression, 
is a sight worth working for. It takes only a little 
patience and kind, treatment to secure this result. 

Squealy was not so easy to teach as Whitey was, and 
he gave us a great deal of trouble. He squealed every 
time we touched him, which gave him his name; he 
would climb out of his box and run away. One night 
he gave us a half-hour's chase before we caught him. 
He would nibble holes with his sharp little teeth through 
the bottom of the box or in the cover on the dressing- 
table, where we tried to keep him for a while, thinking he 
wouldn't try to jump off. He would chew at the edges 
of any books or papers he could reach ; in fact, he never 
seemed satisfied except when in mischief. Whitey, on 
the contrary, showed a genuinely sweet disposition, never 
squealing when we took her up, and never giving trouble 
of any kind. 

We took them with us to the country one day when 
making a visit, and had a most exciting hunt for 
Squealy the first night, just about bedtime, when we 
discovered that Whitey was alone in the box, which 
had been set very carefully in the middle of the floor, 
far enough away, so we supposed, from anything that 
could be reached. As we knew the roving disposition 

157 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

of Squeal} 1- , we took this precaution, but we were not 
sufficiently foresighted, as events showed. We hunted 
under beds, bureaus, and chairs, up -stairs and clown, 
with candles and without, and at last gave up in de- 
spair when we happened to spy him upon the curtain- 
pole near the ceiling, his little white head with his pink 
eyes almost invisible, peering over the top of the equally 
white curtain. His eyes were shining as if he enjoyed 
our worry. He sat still, watching us, and it took but a 
moment to get him and place the box in a safer position, 
farther away from the curtain, to which he had evident- 
ly jumped ; but we did not feel secure so long as we had 
him visiting, for we never knew where we would find 
him. We did not mind this very much when at home, 
as we were careful to keep doors closed, and all articles 
of value away from him. 

When he began to fight, however, we thought it best 
to do without him. The scampering and squealing that 
we heard at night was, to say the least, disturbing, es- 
- pecially to those who wanted to sleep and were not ac- 
customed to noise of this sort. We had grown so used 
to little things of this kind in our nature-studies, that 
we were entirely unmindful of the fact that our little 
family did not live very happily when together ; but one 
night, after a particularly noisy time, we surprised a 
little dark mouse on a visit to the white ones. He 
disappeared very quickly, but evidently returned again, 
for the racket was astounding. Finally there was a 
terrific squeal and a big thump. Upon springing up 
and striking a light we discovered poor Whitey on the 
floor with blood on her back, where either Squealy or 
the brown mouse had evidently bitten her. She had 
fallen or been pushed from the top of a large trunk, 

158 




1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD 



A. "a man out walking in the wind, whicli blew his hat-string from his coat button"; B, "two 
men on a boat"; C, " cannon, and man shooting": D, "boy, and his mamma telling him not to do 
something"; E, "frightened girl"; F, "man walking in the rain"; G, Chinaman; H, windmill 
to work machinery below; I, "girl out walking"; J, New York fire-boat ; K. "baggage man at 
depot"; L and M, engines running over men ; N, effort at horizon ; a, sun ; b, steamboat; c. cap- 
tain on sail ; d, ship with four sails ; e, ship with two sails ; f, cannon on war-ship ; g, big sail-boat. 











1 ! M 

i ' 1 — 






l.;y 


IT 




ill 


1 P 




#1 ^OT? 



«B3fe^- 



j I K -L 











iVBprv 




1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YKARS OLD 

A, cat ; B, man with wheelbarrow ; C, man to wind clock ; P, New York fire-boat ; E. house, 
horse, and wagon ; a, balloon ; b. little man looking out of the window ; c. "rope to let the heat 
out or in of the chimney " ; d, front door ; F— a. cherries on stem ; b, letter-box ; c, mortar carrier : 
d, bells ; e, door ; f, hill with somebody looking over it. 



RECORD CONTINUED 

upon which they were living at the time. Mice always 
fall on their feet like cats. Squealy's condition, upon 
examination, showed that he, too, had received his share 
in the battle royal that had just taken place, for his ears 
were covered with blood. I reached out to pick him 
up, to put him alone for the night, when he bit me, a 
very sharp little nip, which hurt and brought blood. 
This sealed his fate. We concluded that he was not 
of sufficiently gentle mouse-birth to live among gentle- 
folks, and we returned him next day to the fancier from 
whom we had bought him. 

Since that time there has been peace and quiet, day 
and night, and Whitey has shown the most delightful 
habits. She is sitting now, as I write, within two inches 
of my pen, lifting her nose in the air in the dainty fash- 
ion she has, as if she smells cheese, or possibly ink, for 
I frequently have to rescue her from the fascination of 
the ink-bottle. She will lift herself up and look into 
its inky darkness in the most knowing way. Some- 
times she comes up to my hand as I write, when every- 
thing is very quiet, and puts her little cold nose against 
my fingers, as if to pet me. Then she scampers away 
for a run in and out among the books and papers on 
the table, which is her nightly treat. She spends all 
her days in a home she has made her own. It is a 
newspaper- basket on a stand, and is lined with wad- 
ding which is covered with red plush. She has been 
bright enough to nibble a hole in the plush and pull 
out a large handful of wadding, which she has made 
soft with her little teeth, making the loveliest bed im- 
aginable, upon and under which she sleeps, having at 
the same time given herself a hiding-place under the 
plush, to which she often runs. 

159 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

Like some human beings, she has a way of making 
herself very comfortable. One thing she does that is 
rather queer for a white mouse. "We often put her up 
high, in some place where she feels uncomfortable or 
not safe, and she jumps at once, always towards me, 
landing upon some part of my body. We found she 
would do this by one time placing both mice, heads 
down, upon the straight back of a sofa, down which 
Squealy would crawl every time ; but Whitey did it only 
once, jumping every time afterwards. 

"When running about, she is very independent in 
her movements, and uses her front feet exactly as a 
kangaroo might. I have often seen her hold on with 
her hind feet, or stand up on them and reach her head 
and forefeet away out, as if to reach something. Then 
she will settle back again and scamper along. "When 
wide awake and running, her body is raised fully half 
an inch from the floor ; but when lazy, she drags her 
body, feet, and tail, along on the same plane, in the lazi- 
-est possible way, her body touching the surface over 
which she is crawling. 

Harold frequently gives "Whitey a ride upon one of 
his toy-engines, or he will put her in a block-house as 
he builds it, and in either case, or, for that matter, wher- 
ever he puts her, if contented, she will cuddle up into 
a little ball and go to sleep. Sometimes she will play 
peep with him in a very fascinating way. "We took 
Whitey with us to our summer home, where she lived 
contentedly in my study, exploring eveiy nook and 
corner she could reach. Occasionally we would let her 
go about the house. One time we found her down- 
stairs in the pantry, possibly looking for cheese. 

About three weeks after our return she had a family 

160 



RECORD CONTINUED 

of seven brown mice, which delighted Harold. He fed 
the mother every day, and watched the curious move- 
ments of the little ones. As they grew they got away. 
It was impossible to tame them, and "Whitey did not 
seem to care for them as Harold expected she would. 
She would run away from the nest we made for them, 
and would try to keep away. And the little " Brownies," 
as Harold called them, disappeared one by one, to be 
caught later, no doubt, in the mouse-trap down-stairs. 
Whitey then seemed to become playful, as she had been 
at first, but a cruel fate overtook her. One day a young 
kitten belonging to Harold got into the study by acci- 
dent. We found kitty seated comfortably in the corner 
of a closet that mousie favored, and we thought she 
looked as if she had been enjoying a very good meal. 
But we hoped against hope, and for days we looked 
for Whitey to come back. She never came, but we 
often find kitty in the same corner of the closet look- 
ing very watchful. As Harold cries bitterly whenever 
he hears of anything being hurt or killed, we have 
let him think that Whitey has gone away on a visit, 
from which she will no doubt return. 

A white mouse is a dainty little pet, very interesting, 
and giving little trouble — that is, if you can find one 
that does not bite, as we have done. 



The following is a favorite story of Harold's, embody- 
ing our experience with training butterflies when he 
was four years old, which I wrote and had published in 
/St. Nicholas: 

BUTTERFLY PETS 

It may seem very strange to hear of butterflies as 
pets, but there is now in New York City a little boy 

L 161 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

who had as pets, during September and November of 
last year, four Archippus butterflies, and the illustra- 
tions to this article were taken from these real models. 

The Archippus is one of our largest butterflies, meas- 
uring from three to four and a half inches across its 
outspread wings. It appears in the latter part of July, 
and lives all through September, and sometimes into 
the early part of October, if the weather is mild and 
warm. It loves the sunshine, and has a very leisurely 
and graceful manner of flying about from flower to 
flower, as if it were enjoying everything to the utmost. 
Helen Conant tells us truly in her charming little book, 
The Butterfly Hunters, that there is no butterfly that 
takes such strong hold of one's fingers with its feet as the 
Archippus. It is not so bright in color as some others, 
but the wings are tawny orange, and are beautifully 
bordered with black dotted with white. Fine black 
veins cross the wings, and on the tip of the fore wing 
are several yellow and white spots extending up on the 
front border. The under sides of the wings are a deep 
yellow, bordered and veined like the upper sides. The 
head and the thorax, or chest part, are black, spotted 
with white, and the slender feelers or antennae end in a 
long knob. 

The little boy referred to above, whose name is Har- 
old, was out in the fields near Bayonne, New Jersey, 
one sunny morning in September, playing with his usual 
companion, when they happened to meet two small 
" butterfly hunters " who had caught three very large 
Archippus butterflies. 

Harold was charmed with the pretty creatures, and 
stood quite still, gazing eager -eyed and wistful. The 
older boy suggested that the boy who held the butter- 

162 



RECORD CONTINUED 

flies should give one to him, which was instantly and 
kindly done, and Harold heartily thanked them and 
took home his prize very carefully. 

The idea then occurred to me to find out how long 
the butterfly would live if tenderly cared for; as re- 
cently a writer, in describing some captured butterflies, 
spoke of their short life, saying that from ten to four- 
teen days was the average. 

Harold's first butterfly escaped, after a week, through 
an unnoticed crack in the window ; but he had been 
taught to feed quietly from his finger, a glass, or a 
flower. He said at once, " "We must go to look for 
another, or I will have to cry !" You must remember 
that he was only four years old. 

He went into the fields again, and though he saw 
several small butterflies, found no Archippus, and met 
no boy -hunters. For a week the loss of his pet was 
mourned, and then a beautiful specimen was spied in a 
neighboring yard. Harold watched it from a window 
until it disappeared, and then begged his mother to go 
with him in search of it. On the way he interested 
several small boys in his quest, and they found the but- 
terfly, secured him, and gave him to Harold, who brought 
him home in triumph. At home he found awaiting his 
return another Archippus, which had been caught by a 
boy who had heard he wanted one. Evidently all the 
boys in the neighborhood were interested, for the next 
day still another was brought. It took only one day to 
teach one of the new butterflies to eat the sugar syrup 
with which they were fed. The others waited several 
days before they seemed to understand what was being 
done. 

In teaching them it was necessary to handle them 

163 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

very gently, always closing the wings, and holding the 
butterfly by them near the head, releasing the feet very 
carefully at the same time with the other hand, as the 
Archippus clings very tenaciously, the feet having two 
fork-like claws which take a very strong hold of any 
rough surface. The butterflies slept on the lace cur- 
tains by the windows, and therefore, when lifted, had to 
be moved very cautiously. By putting a finger in front 
of the butterfly's antennae, and touching one of them 
very lightly (as if to let the little creature know the 
finger was there), the butterfly would in almost every 
instance creep upon the extended finger, where, after 
one or two trials, he would sit contentedly, sipping his 
sugar-water. 

One of Harold's pets used his front feet in a very im- 
patient way, kicking out right and left, as if hunting for 
the finger which was usually there when he was ready to 
pay attention to cleaning his wings, body, and feet, after 
a meal of thick and sticky sugar-water. His washing 
was done very daintily, in a basin or bowl in which 
there was about a gill of water. At the same time he 
alternately projected and drew in the trunk-like probos- 
cis with which he fed — which is altogether a remark- 
able and very interesting feature. When not in use, 
this organ is coiled up very closely, and when the but- 
terfly is asleep the coil is so small that it can scarcely 
be seen. When feeding or taking his bath the butterfly 
frequently rolled his proboscis up half-way, and then 
opened it again and went on with what he was doing. 

It was very curious to note the degree of intelligence 
shown by this butterfly during the six weeks of his life 
as a pet. It was a very pretty sight to see him sit in 
the bowl of water, now lapping, then picking all over 

164 




THE BUTTERFLY ON THE CURTAIN 



RECORD CONTINUED 

his coat and wings, again taking a sip, and so on, until 
lie seemed well satisfied with his condition, and flew 
away. He would alight upon the curtain, over which 
he crawled slowly, very likely to dry the under side of 
his body, which had touched the water ; then he would 
close his wings, and take his usual afternoon nap. Be- 
fore eating he was very active, fluttering about in the 
sunshine, up and down the curtains and about the 
room, and occasionally resting upon Harold's shoulder 
or hand, or on the floor, where he would bask in the 
sunshine with wide-open wings. Sometimes we would 
find him on the under side of the head of the sofa. 

This butterfly's companion lived with him, feeding 
from the same glass and sleeping near him, in the same 
closet or on the curtain, for nearly three weeks, when, 
through inadvertence, the poor creature was left in a 
room for a moment where the gas had been lighted, and 
he sealed his own doom by flying through the blaze. 
He fell to the floor, apparently unhurt, but we soon 
learned that he could not live. 

The third butterfly brought to Harold escaped through 
the same space between the windows that gave liberty 
to the first one. They would flutter up and down the 
windows in the sunshine, except when resting upon the 
curtains, and in this way two of them got between 
the sashes — the lower one having been raised to give 
room for the window - screen — and escaped. A week 
after the first three were brought, another boy came 
with a fine Archippus, which eventually broke his wing. 
We brought Harold's pets to New York, in a covered 
and well -ventilated box, where a compassionate drug- 
gist etherized the broken - winged butterfly. Harold 
feared he was suffering, and was glad to see him die. It 

165 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

was soon after this that the other butterfly flew through 
the gas, and then we had only one, and the season was 
too far advanced to catch any more. This butterfly 
was fed once a day with honey, and was allowed to fly 
about in the sunshine whenever that was possible. He 
was also put away very carefully at night in a dark 
closet, where he liked to sleep resting upon some soft 
material. If put down upon the shelf, he would flutter 
about in the dark until he found something soft. At 
one place, during their travels, the three butterflies slept 
on the window, behind the curtains, and in the morning 
they would begin their fluttering as soon as the sun- 
shine came. The life of the last butterfly was prolonged 
for several weeks by great care, but eventually he suc- 
cumbed to three days of rain while we were travelling, 
and he had no sunny curtain upon which to bask. 
Harold mourned the loss of his pet for a long time. 




SPONTANEOUS WRITING FROM MEMORY 




L£2 




' TWO TIMES TWO " 



M- HI /Ml* ft. 






A FAMILY PORTRAIT 





THE BEGINNINGS OF A NAVY 



1895 AND 1S96 DRAWINGS 

1895 — Printed work from memory ; working out the two table ; music from memory ; 
free-hand efforts ; two views of a war boat. 1890 — The Valkyrie. 



CHAPTEE VI 

NUMBER - WORK — COMPOSITION— FANCY — THE STORY 
OF HIS STUFFED KITTY — THE ADVENTURES OF A 
LADY-BUG 

May 23, 1895. — Harold is now five years old. He 
works at numbers in a very curious way. He just sang 
to himself : " I wonder how many thumbs there are in 
the world. But / know. Mamma doesn't know. She 
has two and I have two, and that makes four in this 
room." Then he said, " And that's all we know." Then 
he counted up fourteen thumbs in the house, for seven 
people. 

A few days ago he wanted to find out how many 
pennies he needed to make a dollar. He had seventy- 
four cents. He marked on a slip of paper from 70 to 
100, and then beginning at 71 as 1, he counted up to 
100, putting down each number from 1 to 15, then 
counting verbally, as if he had found it was not neces- 
sary to write out each number (see illustration facing p. 
182). He then announced triumphantly that he needed 
twenty-six pennies to make a dollar. There were two 
persons in the room to whom he could have applied had 
he cared to ask, but he seems to prefer to help himself 
when he can, and we do not interfere. He does not sus- 
pect that he is doing anything unusual, therefore he is 
always ready to explain. 

He said the other day, "Is the sun Jesus's light?" 

167 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

To-day we heard him say, " Six and three are nine ; six 
and four are ten." His aunt asked him how he knew 
it. He replied, "I know that six and three are nine, 
and four is one more than three, and ten is next to nine, 
so it must be so." Then he turned to his mother and 
said, " Mamma, when you get me a rule again, get me 
a five-inch or a ten-inch rule" (instead of the regular 
foot-rule, which puzzled him), "because I can count 
then 5—10—15—20—25." 

The following is an effort at composition : 

New York, November 26, 1895. 

"West Street. 

Dear Papa, — I am in bed, and mamma is writing this for me because 
I want to write you a letter. I told her to put the date and all, the 
place where we are, and to tell you all about what I am doing, so you 
can know just what your little boy is doing all the time. 
Good-bye, dear papa, with my love, 

Your dear little boy, 

Harold. 

Some time between October and December we found 
among his papers the accompanying efforts at numbers 
(see illustration facing p. 166). He is evidently work- 
ing out the two table for himself. 

He has learned to count to a thousand with very little 
effort, by simply asking questions. "We taught him 
numbers by direct teaching from one to ten ; the rest he 
reasoned out for himself by asking occasional questions. 
At first he thought of numbers as meaning only one to 
nine ; then he wanted to know what came next. We 
counted with him to twenty, and I explained that after 
he reached ten it was the same thing over again, only 
he must say ten instead of one and naught, and eleven 
instead of one and one, and so on. I did this because I 

168 



If 1 

1 — ~-J 




fr 12 % )J 

HIS EXPLANATION OP THE PARTS OF AN ENGINE 



V 






&-^yi 






HIS DEVELOPMENT DURING HIS FIFTH YEAR IN 
FREE HAND DRAWING — FROM A COPY 



NEARLY PRINTING — HOW HE ASKED FOR A DERRICK 




HIS PET BUTTERFLY 



a e. c. v. i 
r~\ , d. e. 


" xv 


3 


&. H. f, ,-_.-■ : 




! 


J. K- L - 
M, N- Q> ■ 

. p. a r, - - 




.. 


»^Ji s& - 


UV . 1 


, 


m*w<.* - 




i " 



EARLY PRINTING 



1895 DRAWINGS 



Parts of an engine. Free-hand drawing of clock and ducks from copy. How the child 
asked for a derrick. The child's drawing of his pet butterfly feeding. Early printing, 
from copy. 



FIFTH YEAR 

feared he was too young to attempt to teach him about 
units, tens, and hundreds by name. I also told him that 
when he reached nineteen it began in the same way 
again, only with two instead of one, saying he must use 
twenty, then twenty-one, etc. He then asked what 
came after twenty-nine. I said he should use three, 
four, and five, and so on in the same way as he had 
used two in twenty. He then began by himself, count- 
ing up to ninety-nine, but saying three-ty and five-ty for 
thirty and fifty, until I corrected him. For a long time 
after this he thought only of numbers as consisting of 
one or two figures — as, for instance, 8 or 24, and he was 
perfectly satisfied to go no further than ninety -nine 
when counting for his own amusement. It was at this 
stage of his number-work that I found him interested in 
copying printed numbers. He asked me one day for a 
book that began at page 1. After a long search I found 
an old paper novel that began with page 1 on the open- 
ing page of the story, instead of beginning, as books usu- 
ally do, with, page 5 or 6. This book I gave to him for 
his own. For two weeks I saw him at various times 
lying upon the floor with it, a pencil, and also his Slov- 
enly Peter book. I did not trouble to look into what he 
was doing, for he seemed content ; and when at the end 
of this time he came to me and said that Slovenly Peter 
had forty -four pages, I was very much surprised. I 
thought he might have guessed it, so I turned to page 
33 and asked him what page it was. He answered cor- 
rectly at once. Then I looked into the matter further, 
and found that he had taken his pencil and had copied 
from page 1 to 44 in the novel, and had put the num- 
bers at the foot of the page in Slovenly Peter. By doing 
this, counting and comparing with the printed number 

169 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

above, he had learned the appearance of numbers. I 
said nothing more about the matter at the time, but 
from this on I noticed that he always knew numbers 
when he saw them. One day when on the train he 
saw a passing car with the number 321 on its side. He 
instantly asked what three numbers together meant. I 
told him then about hundreds, explaining that after 99 
came 100, 101, and so on the same way up. This satis- 
fied Him for a long time ; but one day, when on the 
street, he noticed a house numbered 2105, and asked 
me what four numbers together meant. I then ex- 
plained about a thousand coming after 999, and so on 
up to millions, billions, trillions, quadrillions, etc., and 
about adding three more naughts to each one. These 
terms seemed to take his fancy, and he often asked 
about their order; and one day he came to me and 
exclaimed : " I could count to quadrillions if I had time 
enough, couldn't I ? A quadrillion has fifteen ciphers." 
This was before he was six years old. 
„ Dr. Preyer thought the child was mistaken in the 
number of ciphers, and wrote: " If the child exclaims at 
this age that ' A quadrillion has fifteen ciphers,' this 
wrong statement should not be mentioned. ... If he 
had worked it out by threes, then he would have found 
twenty-four ciphers ; a million having six, a thousand 
millions nine, a billion twelve, a thousand billions fifteen, 
a trillion eighteen, a thousand trillions twenty - one, a 
quadrillion twenty-four. It would have been rather 
remarkable if he had found this by himself." 

Dr. Harris explains, however, that the child was right, 
for Dr. Preyer counted by the Continental method, and 
the child referred to in the record had his questions 
answered according to American counting. (The record 

170 



ru 




i\ ■ .P.R.R ;: : 



y~k 



1895 ENGINE DRAWINGS FIVE YEARS OLD 



FIFTH YEAR 

also shows how at six years of age he found out for him- 
self that he could count to hundreds on the type-writer 
by using the figures 1 to 9 and the letter o.) 

He took up printed letters in the same easy way that 
he worked out numbers, and thus learned the alphabet, 
as may be seen from the various illustrations relating to 
this phase, learning to read and spell, eventually, by the 
aid of memory and by comparison of the words he knew 
from memory with the printed words before him. (See 
illustrations facing p. 166.) His illustrated books of pigs, 
cats, and dogs, etc., furnished him with sufficient material 
for this sort of work, and his interest was kept up by the 
illustrations, and sufficient admixture of out-door play to 
create a desire for in-door amusement. 

His efforts at figure-drawing (free-hand) in his fifth 
year show steady improvement, as may be seen from 
illustrations facing p. 168. 

His continued interest in mechanical work, boats, etc., 
may be seen from illustrations facing p. 168. The cut 
was given just as represented, in response to the request 
of a playmate of five, who said he did not know the parts 
of an engine, whereupon he drew the parts and gave 
the name of each part as noted, giving at the same time 
a graphic description of how each part worked. 

December 10. — This evening Harold was very anx- 
ious to use my type- writer. My stenographer cautioned 
him not to touch it — this was before he had learned 
to use it — and we heard him say to his playmate, 
another little boy, " Come away, Leo ; when you keep 
looking at it, it tempts you to touch it, and it is bet- 
ter to go away." We allowed him shortly after to 
try, and he soon mastered the intricacies of the ma- 
chine. He asked this evening about seeing faces go- 

171 



A STUDY OF A GUILD 

ing up and down when going to sleep ; he described one 
as round, with two dots for eyes, and a straight nose and 
mouth, that all changed to two marks across each other 

like this qk=fc, illustrating by crossed fingers. Miss B 

said to him to-day in the basement of a toy-store, "Come, 
Harold, let us go, it is so close in here." He replied, 
" Close to what ?" 

He is full of fancy, and he invests his stuffed kitty 
with every loving attribute he can think of. To- 
day he said to her, " Step over yourself, kitty." Then 
he went on : " There are two ways of walking over 
yourself. I can step on myself, step one foot on the 
other, that's touching myself." Then he said that kitty 
replied, " I can't, unless I put my feet over my head, and 
that would hurt my nose and eyes." This same kitty 
was his " darling " for nearly four years (until he was 
seven years old), and at the end of that time she was not 
discarded because of lack of love, but because a boy 
visitor broke her neck and back and she had to go to 
the hospital. He sent the boy home, and wrote him a 
note telling him to never come again. On kittj^s back 
I found a handkerchief bandage with a slip of paper 
pinned to it on which was written the fact that kitty 
had been hurt (see illustration facing p. 192.) 

She was taken to bed with him every night during 
this entire period of devotion ; when in trouble he would 
go to her, clasp her in his arms, and say, in heart-rend- 
ing tones, " Oh, my kitty !" No one was allowed to 
speak slightingly to her, and he even begged his mother 
not to let the boys laugh at her. When the cotton 
in her neck became displaced he instantly seized upon 
the idea that the limp condition allowed her to bend 
her head and say good-morning, which he would cause 

172 




1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 



a. stationary engine ; b, windmill worked by cylinder connecting with a ; A, a dredger ; B, 
"stationary engine attached to a dredger"; C, upper part of a sewing-machine ; D, alcohol engine ; 
E, man wheeling a baby in coach. 



.& 






ft 



'3*? 





- 


1 ( 

is 


Tp ■ 




1 


\ 1 
I \ 1 











7 \U 




suiipi 4 






iUH 



•^ 



,h~ (pi 

MM 



1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE TEARS OLD 

A, " the way to hung a bell on an engine" ; R, boat going over sand-bar ; C, boat going between 
two mountains ; P, boat with anchor (note size of anchor) ; E, "this is a pump, and the water 
pulls down the weight to make the clapper hit the bell." 



FIFTH YEAR 

her to do every morning. His conversations with her 
at night and early morning were frequent and very 
charming. He always pretended that she was an- 
swering him in a squeaky voice. She grew very dim 
about the face from much hugging, and her neck event- 
ually gave way from many "good-mornings;" so in- 
numerable " stitches " had to be taken, until at last even 
Harold saw that no more could be taken. Then for a 
long time he submitted to a great break in her body 
from the neck down, about two inches in length; but 
even this was for a purpose, for he frequently showed 
me through this break how her " heart " would move. 
(A piece of the cotton inside did move every time he 
made kitty move a certain way.) As the features faded 
out, he kept appealing to me to say whether I did not 
think she looked "so gentle," "so smiling," and when- 
ever any one of his numerous friends presented him with 
a new stuffed kitty — no doubt because the old one sug- 
gested the gift — he invariably re-presented the new kitty 
to some one else and clung to his " darling," as he called 
her. At last it seemed to dawn upon him that she was 
failing, and he suggested that I take him to see some 
covers for stuffed kitties, and find out whether he could 
get a " smiling " one. I remember he comforted him- 
self afterwards with the thought that if kitties had 
nine lives he could use nine covers. We found a cover 
that to him seemed smiling. It was in a country store, 
where goods are likely to be shop-worn, and this kitty- 
cover had seen its best days before he bought it. I pre- 
pared to cover the old kitty, but I had to compromise 
on closing the lower edges with a large safety-pin in 
such a manner that he could uncover his "darling" 
whenever she wanted to talk to him. For several weeks 

173 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

lie fancied that she couldn't hear him when he talked 
to her, but I assured him she could ; so eventually he un- 
covered her very seldom, but the safety-pin was a fixture 
to the end of her existence as a comrade. "When we 
were ready to travel anywhere, kitty always went 
along, and if there was no room in the travelling-bag, 
he would kiss her good-bye and place her on top in one 
of the trunks, in order, as he said, that she could breathe 
and would not be squeezed. Once he carried her in his 
arms on a long journey and showed her everything he 
thought of interest. During the day, while he was at 
play, she was propped up in his crib and told to wait 
for him, that he would come back again at night, etc. 
"When he wanted to find her for consolation, he knew 
just where to go every time, and woe betide the person 
who couldn't find " my kitty." I well remember a trip 
by candle-light to bring her in from the fence at the 
extreme end of the garden, where she had been placed 
during the day to watch Harold " dig at his reservoir," 
that occupied him three years, and amused not only him 
but all his numerous playmates. Once it would be a res- 
ervoir, another time a cellar to a house, once a sand-pile 
— for which he bought two loads of sand — again a gar- 
den, once even a cemetery, where a funeral over Dollie 
was held in great state. To us it always seemed to be 
a great big hole, to be refilled in time. Kitty had to 
superintend all these operations, and indeed his entire 
little life seemed divided in its interests between kitty 
and himself, and no amount of badinage, to which he 
was often subject from those who were beyond oar con- 
trol, would disturb this loyalty to his " darling kitty." 

The following is a favorite story of his that I told to 
him just before the election of President McKinley, 

174 




1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 

A, elevated railroad from South Ferry— a, Grand Street ; b, Bleeoker Street ; c. Eighth Street ; 
d. Fourteenth Street. Note curve between Eighth Street aud Bleecker Street, as it should be. 
When four years old the child could tell all the stations from South Ferry to Fifty-eighth Street 
from memory ; B, windmill to work the pump from which the water, a, is pouring. 




1895 DRAWINGS — FIYE TEARS OLD 

nAn^ 6 * Str f et Car in Philadelphia ; B, tools, and a man shooting ; C, well-trapped wash stand 
poorly trapped wash-stand ; D, hoisting-engine for derrick. "appea wasti-stand 



FIFTH YEAR 

when he was very much interested in the remarks he 
heard so frequently about gold and silver. The story is 
based upon our experience, and is one of many that I 
used to interest him when I could not find printed 
stories that were simple enough to suit my purpose. 
His constant plea was to read to him stories that he 
could understand, and to read them understanding^, 
even if they were not printed thus ; but he begged me 
to do so quickly and not stop and explain. He wanted 
the simple words, but if compelled to choose, preferred 
to hear the difficult words without a break in his listen- 
ing, to hearing simple words with explanations. 



THE ADVENTURES OF A LADY-BUG 

[ Told by herself to Mrs. Fly, on the window-pane] 

I was creeping along the pavement last Friday after- 
noon, very quietly, and quite intent on my own business, 
on my way to see Mrs. Gold-bug and her little daugh- 
ter, when I felt myself lifted, carefully, it is true, but 
still lifted, away up into the air. It seemed to me as if 
it might be as high as up to the sky. But it couldn't 
have been, for after hearing myself admired I was put 
into a house of some sort that was made of paper, for 
I know what paper is, having heard it rustle many a 
time. This paper house had four corners, and one corner 
was torn off and folded crosswise so as to give me some 
air. I happen to know this, because while I was being 
admired I heard what must have been a little boy's 
voice say, " Oh, mamma, let us keep it and take care of 
it like we did the butterflies," and I suppose the person 
who picked me up must have been his mamma, for I 

175 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

heard some one say, " I don't see how we can, for we 
are going to the park, and what can we do with her, 
dear little lady-bug. Oh, I see ; I will tear off a corner 
of the envelope of this letter I intended to post, and we 
can carry her nicely in this until we reach home again. 
See, Harold, she can get air through this corner even 
when I hold it shut, this way." So that is how I 
knew it. 

"What I thought to be rooms of a paper house was 
really the folded letter. I do not think that I was very 
foolish in believing this, Mrs. Fly, although you may 
think so ; yet, after all, it was only a letter in a common 
envelope. "What a queer world this is! And then the 
distance, too, that I supposed I was being carried when 
I was lifted from the pavement ! Instead of its being 
very, very great, as I supposed, it was only about half the 
length of one of those queer-looking creatures I used to 
see walking along the streets every day, and that I heard 
one day were called men and women. That's what 
comes of being so little — everything seems so very big. 
Since I am to live here, now, I suppose I will never see 
many more of those queer creatures ; still I may have a 
happier time of it than I have had lately. I heard 
voices everywhere, some time ago, talking about silver 
and gold and about hard times. I'm sure there must 
be some very queer reason for my trouble in finding the 
little I need to eat — a thing that has never happened be- 
fore in my long life of almost a hundred days. 

"When I was carried to the park to - day (I wonder 
what park means?), I heard the little boy say to his 
mother a great many curious things that I could not 
understand at all. I have a pretty good memory (that 
is how I know I have lived a hundred days), and I 

176 




1895 BOAT DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 




1895 DRAWINGS FIVE TEARS OLD 

A, he said, was a picture of a playmate— T can trace a resemblance in the face ; B, Satan ; C, 
well-trapped wash-stand ; D, dominoes, which he frequently drew and cut out for use in play. 



FIFTH YEAR 

think I can tell you some of the sentences he said. 
Maybe you will know what they mean. He began by say- 
ing " Mamma !" with a shriek — so he could be heard, no 
doubt, as the noise of the trains and other things was 
terrible — "Mamma, will we go up in the elevated? 
Have you the lady-bug? Isn't it a dear little thing?" 
(I understood that.) " Oh, mamma, here's Fifty-eighth 
Street; will we go to see the animals?" (That made me 
shudder, for I knew what some animals do who like to 
eat insects.) " Oh, mamma, there's the swan-boat ; can't 
we take a ride ? Let me pay. I have money. Can't 
we, mamma?" (I wonder what a swan -boat is.) I 
heard the mother say, " Yes, dear," and pretty soon I 
felt that we were gliding along as gently as I have 
often sailed on a leaf on a pond, and it was really de- 
lightful. I imagine this was somewhere in the park 
spoken of, which the little boy (whose name seemed to 
be Harold) once called Central Park. There must have 
been a baby sitting beside me, for I heard Harold's 
mother tell him to look at a kitten on the bank, and 
the mother of the baby said, " Look at the kitty, daugh- 
ter," and Harold laughed loud because the baby looked 
straight up to the sky. I heard him say, laughing loud, 
" Kitty isn't up in the sky, mamma." The baby's mam- 
ma laughed too, but Harold's mamma said, " Never mind, 
baby." 

Pretty soon I heard somebody ask to be let off at the 
upper end of the lake, as they called it. ("What is a 
lake ?) Some one said, "If we can make a landing." 
Then we had a good shaking up, and I was a little bit 
frightened, for I felt we were getting out of the boat 
very cautiously. I happen to know what it means to 
be upset in water. One day, when I was sailing on the 
m 177 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

pond, the wind turned over the leaf I was on, and I 
thought I was going to drown. Fortunately I struck 
a stick of wood in my struggles to save myself, and 
crawled up on top of it, and stayed there until a big 
leaf came floating by near enough for me to fly to it, 
which I did very quickly. "When I reached the bank of 
the pond I made up my mind to stay away from the 
water — for a while, at any rate, much as I like sailing 
on a leaf — for I now think it is dangerous. 

Soon after we landed we heard terrible noises, and 
Harold said, " Oh, mamma, see the baby hippopotamus ! 
Isn't it a dear little thing ?" (I thought they were big — 
/ am little.) " Isn't it too sweet for anything ? See its 
feet and its eyes. Oh, mamma, see its mother helping 
it get into the water ! Isn't she a good mother ?" and so 
he went on. He was talking all the time. I couldn't 
understand what he meant half of the time, and I wished 
so much I could see it all. Once he said, " Oh, mamma, 
see the baby tiger winking to me ! Isn't he beautiful ?" 
(I wonder what winking means.) 

I heard him talk of polar-bears, grizzly-bears, prairie- 
dogs, and hyenas, camels, and dromedaries, and I really 
can't remember what all. I remember he said, " Mam- 
ma, don't you think the camel is beautiful ? I do. See 
the way he moves." He seemed to pity the animals 
that were in cages. He couldn't understand why they 
had to be brought away from their homes just to let 
people know what they look like. I heard his mamma 
say that she didn't believe God meant it to be so, and 
I believe she is right. I felt sure she would be good to 
me and feed me after hearing that. 

When we came here she let me out very carefully, 
and I have had a lovely time for several days, going 

178 




1895 DRAWINGS FIVE YEARS OLD 



A, policeman ; B, dining-room, table, dishes, and picture on the wall ; C, inverted 9 in 1895 — 
pictures of papa, mamma, and Harold ; D, inside of a house ; E, outside of a house ; F, weather- 
vane. 



FIFTH YEAR 

about the rooms. Every day she hunts me up and gives 
me something to eat and drink. At first I felt afraid 
she would drown me with the water, but she seemed to 
know I couldn't take much, for she poured a few drops 
quite near to me on the window-sill, and I went close 
and sipped all I needed. The water looked like a wall, 
almost as high as I was, but it didn't come tumbling 
over me as I expected it would. I wonder why ? 

When I was fed she put me on a plate of fruit. I 
heard her tell Harold it was fruit, and I had the most 
delicious dinner. I found it inside of a grape-skin. I 
knew it was that, for I heard her say to Harold, " You 
should have seen the dear little lady-bug eating her 
dinner." 

He said, " Where did she get it ?" 

She said, " I put her on a plate of fruit, and I found 
her eating inside of a skin of a grape that I put there 
for her." 

A little girl was here the other day who must have 
been very wicked, for she said she would kill me. Harold 
took me up gently and ran away down-stairs to his 
mamma and told her all about it. She took me from 
him carefully and told the little girl how wicked it was 
to hurt airy living thing. The little girl seemed to be 
soitw, and said she didn't mean it, but I hope she will 
never come here any more. It isn't nice to have per- 
sons like that about one. It makes one frightened. 

Harold seems to like to watch me when I clean my 
feet and wings every morning. To-day I showed him 
how I reached up on my back with my foot and rubbed 
off any specks of dust that might happen to be there. 
I also cleaned my head with what he calls the forks on 
the ends of my front feet. He likes to watch me get 

179 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

ready to fly, too, which I do sometimes just to please 
him and to keep in practice. I push my hind wings far 
out at the back of my body, and he says they look like 
a little pointed tail before they are spread ; then I 
spread them at the same time that I spread the front 
ones that make my shell -cover, and away I go. I 
hear him say every time, " Oh, see, mamma ! Isn't that 
pretty? Isn't she sweet?" He often speaks of the 
beautiful black spots that I have on the back of my 
shell wings. He says, " Two on each side, and one where 
the split is." (I wonder what he means by " split.") 

To-morrow I am going to fly up on the window and 
see the sunshine that I love so much. Yesterday I 
saw the window was open, and I might have flown 
away, but I didn't want to do it. There is so much 
to see and learn here that I like to stay. Maybe to- 
morrow I will go and ask Mrs. Gold-bug what all the 
voices talking about silver and gold mean. She ought 
to know. 




1895 CUTTINGS — FIVE TEAKS OLD 

^ilriP^nori^niT ff h' 8 ; ?' V r° lin case - colored S^en in the original ; C, c, two sides of bell- 
gilded in original ; D. d, parts of an engine— cut work to fold and place. 



CHAPTER VII 

SEVENTH YEAR — LEARNING GERMAN, WRITING, AND 
SPELLING THROUGH PLAY — A BEDTIME QUESTION 
TALK — COMPARISON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS — 
THE CHILD'S SONG TO HIS COLORS — TWO STORIES 
TOLD BY THE CHILD 

July 29, 1896. — His prayer : " Dear God, I want you 
to keep the good good, and make the bad good, and I 
thank you very much for bringing papa back safely, 
and I want you to take care of me in the night-time, 
and I thank you very much for letting me pass all the 
day so happily." 

He was taught the Lord's Prayer by rote, in order that 
he might not feel chagrined if he ever had occasion to 
join others in saying it in kindergarten schools. The 
third time of repetition he had to be helped once only 
by supplying " on earth." He insisted on having each 
phrase of the Lord's Prayer explained to him. 

August 1st.— To-day Harold said, as is usual under 
similar circumstances, " The step made me go up." He in- 
tended going around the side of the house with a play- 
mate, but from habit he stepped up on the front porch as 
he passed it. He instantly stepped down again and went 
with her, but she teased him about it, and he replied 
in a usual fashion that "it made him do it." I never 
understood this remark before, but now I see clearly 
what he meant when he said, as he often did, that some- 

181 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

thing made him do thus or so — he means his usual habit 
leads him one way when he wills another way. 

August 7th. — To-day he came in fretting about hav- 
ing no one with whom to play. It was intensely 
warm. I had been reading about the Herald Ice Fund, 
and I read to him about the sick babies in the slums, 
and said he should be happy by contrast with his happy 
home. I inadvertently roused a great storm of sym- 
pathy. He cried bitterty, ran crying audibly to the 
other end of the house, to the nursery, and back again, 
when he handed me a penny, saying, between his sobs, 
" Send it to the babies." It was half of all he had at the 
time. I tried to pacify him, and told him of all the 
good people who helped take care of the poor children ; 
but he cried for a long time, and wondered pitifully 
why God let them suffer. 

He said to William, a playmate, " You know God, 
who lives up in heaven ; well — part of him is a spirit, 
called the Holy Ghost. There is such a thiug as a spirit 
that isn't a ghost." 

September 9th. — He said to me just now, " Plated 
silver is nickel washed in melted silver, isn't it ?" 

September 11th. — Harold asked me to-day what 
" absorb " meant, and how frogs absorbed moisture. I 
had just been telling him that frogs came out on rainy 
days for a drink, when they would absorb the rain 
through little holes in their bodies. He listened intent- 
ly to my explanation, then said, as he was eating some 
bread and milk, " See, my bread absorbs the milk." 

September 16th. — When going to ISTew York to-day 
he said, as he stood in the aisle, " Mamma, the faster the 
train goes the easier it is to stand ; it goes over the 
bumps quicker." Then, pointing to the sign "Drinking- 

182 




1896 DRAWINGS 

A— When telling me what this was, he said, "I don't like to say that out loud — when I drew it, 
I used to read fairy stories — it was drawn for a ghost " ; B, b, pages of music-book ; C, horse-rar — 
when drawing it, he asked me whether it wasn't the best horse he had ever drawn ; D, "a deaf man 
who is lame — lie is supposed to be listening through ear-trumpets to a and b, and he is standing on 
c, which helps him move about by machinery inside." 



SEVENTH YEAR 

water," he said, "Don't they know it's drinking-water?" 
She said, " Yes." Then he said, " Why do they put the 
sign up?" 

His questions to-day were chiefly about words. He 
came to me at different times with the following, asking 
what each meant: "saliva," "materials," "natural his- 
tory," " boast," and " indestructible." He cannot under- 
stand why some of his toy-books are called " indestruc- 
tible " when they can be destroyed. He often asks me 
about it. 

October 2d. — He said to-night, when in bed, " I put 
my hands over my eyes, and I see the loveliest colors ; 
and I say, colors, please come back until I go to sleep." 
Then he began to sing : 

"Dear colors, please come back, 
Until I go to sleep. 
I -will never see you again, 
Until I eat a big ben. 

"Dear colors, please come back, 
I'll never disturb you again, 
Until day dawn brings the light. 

"You darling little colors gay, 
Make the prettiest ones you ever had." 

Then he fell asleep. 

The following is a song of Harold's when falling asleep 
after a day of mental pressure in a primary school — 
before he was seven — where he was placed against his 
mother's better judgment, but in deference to the opinion 
of an educational authority, who saw and acknowledged 
the error after two days' experience with the child. 
At the end of each day he seemed intoxicated with the 
charm of learning, and was very much excited — too 
much so to fall asleep until several hours after his usual 

183 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

bedtime. The second night he began singing to himself 
about his colors, as he calls them, as follows, singing 
every word in a very pretty manner : 

"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple;" 

then, in a very unconscious, sleepy way : 

" Oh, you darling little colors, come back, come back, 
Until I go asleep, 
And make another picture. 
Tra-la, la-la, la-la. 

"Come red, come orange, come yellow, come green, 
Come blue, and purple ; 
Oh, make another diamond of purple and of blue. 

"Oh, colors, come from your little coaches, 
You darling little colors ! I am sorry to say, 
You get in your cabs and drive right home. 
• I hope you will have happy days. 

Good-bye, good-bye, my colors dear, dear, dear, dear." 

Between the last two stanzas he sang : 

" Tra-la, la-la, la-la, 
My pussy-cat lies down by me. 
Oh, you dear pussy-cat, I like your hat ! 
Tra-la, la-la, la-la." 

Then he fell asleep instantly. 

Another night, apropos of the color song, he said : 
" Black turns to navy-blue ; then there came red and 
light-blue and pink, and now it is so many I can't tell 
you all, but it is beautiful ; now it is red and green, a 
red spot with green about it ; now it is green with red 
dots in it running through the black ; then black ; now 
it is white and brown, gray and white, black with white 
dots ; now it's green, with blue in it ; now all green." Then 
he slept, but first he said, after ceasing his remarks 

184 




1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

A, filtermg-machine ; a, pump ; b, one of series of filters ; c, screws to open or shut off water; 
d, water-tank to heat and Pasteurize water by lamp e, below ; f, faucet to tap water ; B. parts of 
engine ; a, sliding of the cylinder ; b, steam drum ; c. safety-valve ; C^a, door ; b, hinges ; c, 
screws i; d, lock ; e, key ; D, reversing lever on train ; a, "engine goes forward"; b, "engine 
stops"; c, "engine goes backward when this way"; E, plan for theatre stage , F, parts for the 
theatre — hose playing on house on fire. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

about the colors, "Oh, isn't it funny? I saw lots of bub- 
bles when I opened my eyes, and I couldn't see you 
through them." 

One of his rhymes at this time was, " She gathers the 
trees as if they were bees, and takes her ease so good, 
so good." Another rhyme I heard the other day 
was, " Put the magical corn on your head, and that will 
make you dead." 

One night, when singing to himself "Dies' ist die Mut- 
ter lieb und gut" he sang it in German first, then in Eng- 
lish ; then he tried to say the words without the music, 
and succeeded with the German, but when he reached 
the third line of the English words he had to sing it to 
get it ; then he repeated it again and again until he felt 
sure of it. In this way he goes over his day's acquire- 
ments while falling asleep — sings, talks, and counts to 
himself — and occasionally tries to get me to answer a 
question. Not many days ago, when I supposed he was 
asleep, we heard him call out, " How much is twice 
thirty-four ?" I told him. He repeated my answer, and 
soon fell asleep. I never knew what led up to the ques- 
tion, but he often asks disconnected questions like the 
above, after a period of quiet, during which his brain is 
apparently at work over something that puzzles him. 
He has taken a fancy lately to have me spell words that 
are new to him, without pronouncing them, in order 
that he may guess at them by the sound of the let- 
ters. 

One day I gave him " s-h-o-e," and told him oe was pro- 
nounced like oo in too, and to put the sound sh in front. 
He tried it several times before he got the word right, 
and was then very much pleased to find he could spell 
shoe. We then tried "p-1-e-a-s-e" in the same way, which 

185 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

at first he got as " place." In this way he is learning 
how to spell many words while he pla} r s, and he now 
reads a number of short easy sentences. lie has a 
fashion now of spelling all the words he knows how to 
spell when telling us something — as, for instance, "M-a-m- 
m-a, come t-o d-i-n-n-e-r." Then she spells "come" 
for him, and he has one word more. Sometimes I take 
up a word like "grew," for instance, give him the 
sounds, and ask him for the word. He first called 
grew " ga-rew," then tried it faster, and eventually was 
delighted to find it was a word of which he knew the 
meaning. This knowledge he gains very easily with 
play that he enjoys. 

Once he asked me what " a-p-e-n " spelled. I said it 
was no word; then he tried again, and said "a-p-r-n." 
I said again it was no word, although I knew what he 
was trying to spell. Then he said, impatiently, " Well, 
how do you spell apron ?" Then I told him. 

He will take a word like " old," or any simple word he 
knows, and, beginning with the first letter of the alpha- 
bet, he will spell to himself and try to pronounce each 
combination, thus : a-o-l-d, 5-o-l-d, c-o-l-d, cZ-o-l-d, e-o-l-d, 
y-o-l-d, etc., all the way through to z. He tells me this 
is how he is learning all by himself how to spell new 
words. He often does this before falling asleep, and 
often asks me some such question as whether " e-o-l-d " 
makes a word, not recognizing it as such from the sounds 
of the letters. 

October 4th. — " Mamma, you wouldn't sa} 7- a Ecke — 
but, das ist ein EckeP I heard him saying to himself to- 
day, " boa-constrictor," then " hug," and " bones," as if he 
were puzzling about them. He is always inquiring about 
words, why they are called thus and so. He asked 

186 




1896 DRAWINGS — SIX TEARS OLD 

A, "an engine facing you on the track," with the child's explanations ; B, a key-stone. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

to-day, "What does hemisphere mean — half round?" 
The circle of his engine track suggested it. He set 
the track upon the edge of two chairs to make an 
elevated railroad, after having run it contentedly on 
the table for a long time. He is fertile in invention 
and adaptation. To-day he repeated the entire story 
of "The Old Woman and her Crooked Sixpence" 
without a pause, and when he reached the part 
where, after the cat had " drinken " the milk (as he 
said), " the cat began to kill the rat, the rat began to 
gnaw the rope," etc., etc., he grew breathless and ex- 
cited and could hardly say it fast enough, it seemed. 
He called the pig a " piggie wiggie," and omitted the 
word " yonder," explaining that he feared the little chil- 
dren wouldn't understand what it meant. He always 
has so much trouble himself to find stories that he can 
understand from beginning to end that he sympathizes 
with others in this respect. He has had no phonic 
lessons, but has had his attention directed to sounds of 
letters. Many words that are new to him he pronounces 
correctly from the sound of the letters. I tried him with 
" s-o-o-n," but it took him some time to get it ; first he 
said " sss-oo-en," then he tried it quickly, and recognized 
the word. He sometimes reads whole sentences of new 
words by spelling them and following the sounds, fre- 
quently asking me the meaning of the word he may be 
pronouncing correctly. 

In the Andrew Lang Fairy Keaders, where the words 
are divided in syllables all through the reading-matter, 
he has very little difficulty with words even of three and 
four syllables. 

To-day he spelled saliva from sound, asked its meaning 
first, then said of some water which he had just used to 

187 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

brush his teeth, " This water has saliva in it, I will 
throw it away." 

He asked me how to spell " "Willie " — pronouncing 
it "Will-lee." When I said " TF-^-1-i-e," he seemed 
cross, and said " I mean Will-^e," then he said, " W-i-1-1 
spells Will, now spell ee ;" so I said " ie," and he was sat- 
isfied. 

He then said, " P-a-p spells papee." Isaid"]S"o." He 
said, " I thought it spelled pa for pa, and the last p was 
said pee, so it would make papee." He couldn't under- 
stand why it should spell pap at first. Then he said, 
" How do boys spell poppy, when they say it instead of 
papa ?" 

October 5th. — I found out yesterday about his so- 
called April-fool letter to me — sent a short time ago 
by mail. He really gave it to the postman on Satur- 
day to have it delivered on Monday, and didn't tell me 
for two days. It came in the usual mail, and he enjoyed 
my surprise immensely. He addressed me as "Dear 

Mrs. H , will you please send me a copy of your 

book at once?" and signed it "Yours truly, Dlorah." 
(Here he used his own name reversed, which puzzled me.) 

He is learning German in play. This evening, after 
his first lesson (given yesterday), he gave me a lesson in 
play. I encouraged it, to find out what he remembered, 
with the following result : He told me that " No " was 
Nein; "Yes" Yah; "Boy" Knabe ; " Girl" Madchen ; 
" Bread" Brod; "A" Em; "I" Ich; "With" Mit; and 
counted in German up to fifteen. 

October 8th. — To-day he asked, " What is meant to 
die a painful death ?" I said, " A wagon running over 
and killing you would be a painful death." He then 
said, " And if they dagged a sword in you f 

188 




1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

A, parts for a Brownie ; B, parts of the moon, as it grows ; C, effort at perspective ■ D, copy 
of the block engine he often built ; E— a, cat from model ; b, "This," he said, "is how I used 
to draw a pussy "; F, f, comparison drawings— F, Harold's ; f, copy by a playmate a year younger 
than Harold ; G, a gate ; H, two sides to a watch. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

He said to me to - day, when I told him that after 
being dressed he might play in the room in which I was 
trying to sleep, " You tell God to keep me out of temp- 
tation " (alluding to the Lord's Prayer), " but if you 
dress me and let me play in there while you want to 
sleep, it will tempt me to talk to you." 

October 11th. — When reading to Harold to-day he in- 
sisted on having the book about " bones, muscles, and 
blood." I explained to him with a long tube how water 
seeks its level, and he busied himself for a long time 
with the tube and his pump (one that works satisfac- 
torily). He is very quick at contrivances, self-reliant, 
and self-helpful. He rarely allows or asks us to do any- 
thing for him that he can do for himself. 

On our way to the park this afternoon he said, " What 
does b-u-r-n-s spell?" He had caught but a glimpse of 
the word as we went by on the elevated train. This 
suggests Catharine Aiken's experiments in "glance- 
work." 

He said, a short time ago, " What does s, f , t, p, o, c, t, a 
mean?" I asked him where he had heard it. He re- 
plied, " Maud sings it ; she says, ' If they won't feed the 
horse good food the s, f , t, p, o, c, t, a will get after them.' " 
I told him then about the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals. He is very much interested in 
the docking of horses' tails. He says he will try to help 
prevent it, because it is cruel. He explained to me about 
using a red-hot iron wire to do it. I do not know where 
he could have heard of this. Some playmate no doubt 
has told him. 

He is now playing that he has a restaurant; he wrote 
to his father that he was happy because he had one (see 
illustration facing p. 208.) He brought to a chance vis- 

189 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

itor, on a tin-box lid for a tray, a little bucket from his 
pump, filled with water for a drink, making believe the 
bucket was a glass ; a piece of bread, and a round piece 
of apple that was very thin and had skin on one side ; 
it was the shape and size of a dollar. We were puzzled 
as to how he cut it in that shape, and asked him about 
it. He then showed us what he called his knife. It 
was a circular piece of tin, sharp on the edge, that 
had covered a bottle, and by turning it a certain way 
he cut a perfect circle of apple, which gave him great 
delight. 

October 12th. — He said to-day, " How would it feel if 
I had eyes in the back of my head ?" I replied, " I 
don't know." Then he said, " Well, suppose I cut a 
rat in two pieces, and then cut one of the pieces in two, 
would that piece feel it ?" I said " No." He wondered 
why. I said because it was separated from the head. 
Then he wondered why again. I said there were nerves 
going to the brain (his "think," as he calls it) telling 
when anything hurt. I told him also about the sensi- 
tiveness of the finger-tips. He experimented, then said, 
" Are there nerves in the nails, too ?" I was not quite 
sure, but I said " Yes." He looked at them, then said, 
" How can one see through the nails and not see any 
nerves ?" I was forced to divert him then, and I must 
study up physiology. 

When walking along the street some days later he 
said to me, " I suppose if we had no nerves, and we 
shut our eyes, we wouldn't know we are walking." 

October 17th. — He evidently puzzles about two, too, 
and to. I just heard him saying to himself, as he is 
lying in bed trying to fall asleep, "I am going at two 
o'clock. Are you going to town ? Yes, I am going, too" 

190 






7C~7&~? 7 '\- ^';'Ni( 



A 



HOW MANY PENNIES HE NEEDED TO HAKE A DOLLAR 




J^=r^ 



/ i g I ^S ^^l^^rxti^ 




\i0f6£ o A l^mOSL 




HORSE AND WAGON 



A GL'NBOAT 




mOin£oz. \t> iv* tr &&$^&^W> 




OZaSz. „^^D ' 2 




StWtoa «2 


Ufant 


«*, /5o£tU** #**> «*juL <*- 


'TYiAfiiC' 


t<vn*&*zsn. c^uC ■»• &e~x. <-£ -<uvju*y 


tetsr^d- «- -X-*m~4 JCfatc 'OvmL&an**' • 


lit&A. 


A<tyu+- -—<yo<xL>-iyuZ,. 




n } J\ >/ ___ I 



SPONTANEOUS WRITING FROM MEMORY 
1896 DRAWINGS 



SEVENTH YEAR 

accenting each one. Then he said, " One, t-w-o " (spell- 
ing the words), " one t-o-o, and one t-o," turned over, and 
began whistling a tune he heard a band play to-day. 
Afterwards he asked me what a hard g and soft g meant. 
I explained ; then he asked for a hard a, h, c, and I 
explained that not all letters had hard sounds and soft 
sounds ; then I said " cake " and " cent " for him, to show 
the difference in the c's. He said, " How about knife ? 
I should think n stood for knife." I said, " No, it is k, 
but it is a silent letter." He was satisfied with this, 
and asked next, "What is whiney or fretty — letting 
your voice drop down like this ?" giving an illustration 
of it. Then he fell asleep. 

To-day he said, "Isn't twice twenty, forty?" I re- 
plied, "Yes. How much is twice nineteen?" He said, 
"I don't know unless I go straight up." I asked, 
" How do you do it ?" He replied, " Why, twice twelve 
is twenty-four, twice thirteen is twenty-six, twice four- 
teen is twenty-eight," and he went on until he reached 
twice nineteen is thirty -eight, evidently having found 
out that the two-table up to twelve was made by add- 
ing two each time ; so he experimented up to forty, 
and asked me as above. This is the way he has ex- 
perimented, and found out much that he knows about 
numbers. 

The notes opposite p. 192 show how he tried to learn 
to write. A vertical-writing chart was placed above his 
little table, and we saw that paper and pencils and his 
chair were always ready for him, should he want to try 
it. He wrote a letter to a favorite kindergartner the first 
day he received it, asking me how to spell the words he 
did not know, but hunting out the letters for himself by 
repeating the alphabet as he looked for the letter he 

191 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

wanted. Before six weeks had passed be knew the 
whole chart from memory, yet he never received direct 
teaching from it, nor did I tell him to join the letters 
together when making the words. He did this from 
the beginning, for the chart he used was carefully pre- 
pared to meet this need. One day I saw him slip a cover 
over some of the letters on the upper row of the chart, 
by hanging an envelope by its flap on the upper edge 
of the chart. I asked him why he did it ? He replied, 
" I wanted it so I can learn the letters without seems- 
them — so," illustrating by first covering a and h and 
then writing the letters, and moving the envelope along 
over o and d, and so on. 

To-day he said, in my hearing," Yertical- writing chart." 
I then said, " You should write a letter to your papa." 
He replied, " You wouldn't have told me to, if I had not 
said, ' Yertical-writing chart,' " which was true. When 
speaking of the chart, he said, " Why do they make 
their letters so decorated ? They are more decorated in 
capitals than below" (meaning the small letters). "You 
see, they might make the 1 straight at the top — this 
way : /V' Then looking at 7 on the chart, he said, " I 
should think it is vertical. I know some people who 
make the 7 this way : ^-^ == * '. This is the way it should 
be : 7- Which way do you think is right ? Is this hori- 
zontal: "^-^J?" 

He heard some one say purty for pretty to-day ; he 
came to me and said, " I've always heard of pretty soon ; 
never heard of purty soon." 

October 24th. — I said to him when he heard his aunt 
play Mendelssohn's " Rondo Capriccioso," " Isn't that 
beautiful that your aunt is playing ?" He replied, " Yes, 
I don't see how she can play such music." I said, " She 

192 



-c ^) 



\t ry\, 



Bee. 3 \%n 
|fk». 



J WW, (IT, it) 



A****/ ***** y **•' i 



tZKK 









|g,iu y~ 
<vn^ ajgf a-n.d. 



| c KITTY 

^o i>- 



— S-^ v,, j~ »irj ^"/ "'us: 







|£Wxa B. 







>1Uo*i£ ya- 



If. 






ISpi-HI^I 






0. 



'-4 V a^r.^ 







y^-v 



GRADED EFFORT AT WRITING — COMPOSITION AND KARLY EFFORTS AT NUMBERS 



SEVENTH YEAR 

is studying it all the time." Then he replied, " I suppose 
it isn't hard for her." 

October 25th. — He said at tea, to-day, "I like the 
raisins in this cake. I don't like them in most cakes. I 

like them in Mrs. L 's cakes too. I wonder why 

these are so good. Don't you suppose, mamma, that the 
grapes were properly dried to make them so good? 
Maybe too the baker used" (then he whispered and 
spelled) " c-1-e-a-n hands." 

October 28th. — He saw the word "you" upsidedown, 
thus — novf. He said, " I was puzzled what noi! meant, 
then I saw it was ' you ' upsidedown." He has always 
been able to read letters from any side presented. To- 
night he could not fall asleep easily, because he had too 
much excitement just before bedtime. He said, "If 
anybody could see the pretty things I am seeing — all 
sorts of pretty colors, green, red, purple. I close my 
eyes and it gets dark — very dark — and all of a sudden 
it cheers up and gets beautiful colors. I am going to 
have one in a minute, I think," were the last words I 
heard. When I looked again he was asleep. 

I asked him this week to tell me a German sentence, 
if he had learned any. He promptly said, " Zwei augen 
hob eich" 

When he sings, " Good-morning, Merry Sunshine," the 
kindergarten song which he learned after hearing it 
twice, he always prefaces the last verse with the words, 
" This is what the sunshine says now, mamma, that I 
am going to tell you." 

As we neared Hanover Square, on the Third Avenue 
Elevated, after an absence of a year, he turned at a cer- 
tain place and said, " Let me see — this is the place we 
saw the cannons," and he showed one to me. He then 
n 193 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

amused himself all the way to Thirty - fourth Street 
with making and pulling a slip-knot — with a string 
he found on the floor — saying at last, "This is 
the way to hang a man, 1 ' putting nry purse in the 
loop. Some one must have indiscreetly told him 
about it. 

October 29th. — A " question talk " to-day with pussy. 
" Did there be, a long time ago, an idol — an ugly thing 
made of stone — that little boys prayed to — do they ?" 
He said this as if he thought it couldn't be so. He then 
told me he heard it in a Sunday-school he visited once. 
He then began talking about the matter to his stuffed 
kitty. Saying, " You wouldn't pray to idols, would 
you ?" Then he turned to me and said, " Did you hear 
what pussy said ?" I said, " No." He replied, " Why, 
she said, ' No, I wouldn't do it for the world.' ,; Then he 
went on, " You precious little pussy, you precious pussy 
darling, you're the sweetest little pussy in the world ; 
no, you're not little, you're big — only not so big as me. 
I wish you'd grow — don't you?" Then he changed his 
voice to represent kitty speaking, and said, " Yes, I 
does, I does, I does," turning to me at the same time 
and saying, "Do you hear her ?" " You wouldn't pray to 
idols, would you, kitty ?" Then the changed voice came 
again in reply, " No, I'll kill every one I get near." 
Then Harold said in a very wise way, " But, pussy, they 
are not alive, they are made of stone." Then he turned 
to his mother and said, " Mamma, I know what dragons 
are ; they are idols. Don't you believe it ? Maybe a one- 
headed dragon is an idol in Africa — hut it couldn't breathe 
and spit fire? The above is a fair sample of his con- 
versations with pussy before he falls asleep. He is now 
singing to himself : 

194 



SEVENTH YEAR 

"The diddy pawn lies on the dry land there, 
Sitting there, sitting there, sitting there. 
He sits there and eats a pear, 
Tra-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la." 

November 1st. — I placed some books on a shelf above 
his bed, and he asked me not to put them so near the 
edge, for fear they might fall on him in the night-time. 
He has always shown forethought and caution — yet is 
reckless in play. 

November 3d. — He has taken to German very kindly. 
He has had, in play with Fraulein, a half-hour lesson, 
for three weeks, five days each week. He comes to me 
at times to teach me his lesson. His second lesson was 
as follows — he first said : 

"Zwei Augen hab eich — two eyes have I." 

Then he repeated from memory : 

' ' Die Uhren, liebe Kinder, 
Sie haben keine Ruh' 
Iro Sommer wie im Winter, 
Sie gehen irnmer zu — 
Tic-toe, tic-toe, tic-toe." 

Then he said, " I don't know what this means, but die 
Uhren means the clock." Then I said, " It means that 
it goes winter and summer," and he replied, " Oh yes, 
it says tic-toe, tic-toe, and it means that the clock al- 
ways goes — in winter and in summer." 

Then he repeated from memory : 

" Dies' ist die Mutter lieb und gut, 
Dies' ist der Vater mit frohen Muth ; 
Dies' ist der Bruder lang und gross, 
Dies' ist die Schwester mit Pilpchen im Schoss ; 
Dies' ist das Kindchen, klein und zart, 
Und dies' die Familie von guter Art." 
195 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

Then he repeated it in English. 

Another lesson was as follows : 

"Mamma, how do you say soldiers in German?" 
She replied, "Soldatm." He smiled, and said, "Yes. 
How did you know it ?" 

Then he counted to one hundred in German correct- 
ly ; then said each hundred to a thousand, calling that 
" zehn hundert " first, because he didn't know the word 
thousand in German. The only question he asked while 
doing it was when he reached twenty -five. He then 
asked if "finf" was five. At thirty he said first 
"zehn und zwanzig" then corrected himself, and said, 
" dreizig." 

When singing to himself to-day, in spite of a cold, and 
keeping time and showing expression, he sang first the 
song, " Good - morning, Merry Sunshine," which is a 
favorite ; then he began : 

"Good-morning, good-morning, kind teacher so dear, 
How gladly we greet you, till all doth appear ; 
Our playmates we welcome, each one with delight — " 

(Here I asked him what delight meant. He said, "With 
happiness — very glad.") Then he went on — 

"Our hearts are so happy, because we do right." 

(Here he turned to me and said, " It isn't write, but be- 
cause we do right — do the right thing.") Then he com- 
pleted the song — 

"Good-morning, good-morning, our dear little school, 
How happy we are in obeying each rule ; 
For love is our motto in work and in play, 
So let us be thankful for each happy day." 

We followed nature - work and science stories with 
fairy stories at six, instead of giving fairy stories first. 

196 



B ItflO i "t fj # | H 




1896 DRAWINGS — SIX TEARS OLD 



A, harp ; B, stationary, drilling, and stone-cracking engines, and a horse with a steam engine 
inside with a handle, a, to make his legs work ; C, birds on a telegraph wire ; D, "side and 'top 
of a war boat"; E, "Mrs. Fan crying"; F, heater; G, "This is the way a flying ship looks, 
mamma"; H, "a little boy on his sled — he is lost and so far away from his house that you can 
hardly see it"; I, shell - thrower — a, "here's the explosion" — b, "here's the end of the shell"; 
J, electric fire-engine — "the wheels are turning so fast that you can't see them"; K, cable car 
on bridge. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

I find be lias therefore no fear of goblins, because he 
knows they are myths; yet he loves the make-believe 
part, and, for so young a child, he has developed great 
power in creating fairy stories. 

November 6th. — He said to-day, " Mamma, what does 
atmosphere mean ?" She said, " The air around us." 
Then he said, " Does the air mean atmosphere, or does 
atmosphere mean air ? I thought atmosphere meant a 
kind of sickness. Oh, it's esterics (hysterics) I meant 
what I was thinking of, mamma. Why do they call it 
' esterics ' ? They might call it ' Can't stop it.' " (He 
had asked before this for the meaning of hysterics, 
and evidently deduced his own explanation of " Can't 
stop it.") 

I heard him say to-day to a little girl whose word he 
doubted, " Honest and truthly V 

November 10th. — To-day he told me that Miss H 

had given them copy for writing in the kindergarten, 
and it was a little bit slanting. He said in great surprise, 
" When mine was done, I saw it was vertical.'''' I replied, 
" So it should be." He is being taught the vertical hand, 
but he evidently tried to write slanting, after the copy, 
and was surprised to find he had not done it. 

November 21th. — To-day he asked his mother whether 
the germs of whooping-cough got it themselves (meaning 
the cough by " it "). She said, " No." He said, " Then 
how do they give it to us ?" 

We have been reading a story in which the giants that 
were killed were a number of bad habits and character- 
istics, and those who helped to kill them were the good 
fairies. The questions are mine, and the answers his 
— and his understanding of his own nature is pretty 
accurate : 

197 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

Bad temper ? Half dead. 

Carelessness ? Nearly dead. 

Selfishness ? Half dead. 

Laziness ? Dead. 

Disobedience ? Dead. 

Lies ? Dead. 

Untidiness ? Half dead. 

Exaggeration ? Pretty nearly dead. 

Fear ? Half dead. 

Love of praise ? T ^ left to kill. 

Boastfulness ? Dead. 

Concealment (which he called 

Sneakfulness) y^, to kill ; nearly dead. 

Bitter words ? x^ to kill. 

Hate ? Quite dead. 

Anger ? ■£$ to kill. 

Cruelty ? Dead. 

I can't ? TTFinrtrWflUTr t0 km - 

Delay not ? Pretty nearly dead ; half 

to be killed. 

Bashf ulness ?. Nearly dead. 

Proudfulness (his own term) ? Dead. 

He said, from memory, that the fairies to help you 
kill the giants were lovefulness, courage, self-control, 
obedience, honesty, patience, good -temper, kindness, 
diligence, courtesy, gratitude, and perseverance, which 
he said meant " Try, try again." 

November 28th. — Harold's prayer. After sa} T iDg the 
Lord's Prayer, he added, as usual his voluntas prayer, 
this time saj^ing, " God bless me, all the animals, in- 
sects, birds, and everything. Bless me, and make me 
a good boy. Good-night. A/i-men" Then he got up, 
and as I began brushing his hair he suddenly dropped 
on his knees, and said, "Dear God: I'm going to bed 
now. Excuse me a minute until I see what time it is." 
Then he turned his head, looked at a clock in the 

198 



SEVENTH YEAR 

hall, put down his head again, and said, " It's just ten 
minutes past eight, and I think I'd better go to sleep 
now. So good -night, dear God. .AA-men." As he 
started for his bed I said, " Wait, let me brush your 
hair." He replied, " But I told God I would go to sleep 
right away." So I said, " Well, run along then," and he 
was asleep before I could write this down. It is curious 
to note that he has said " aA-men " ever since he heard it 
the first time when visiting a kindergarten, although he 
originally heard it pronounced amen. It must be from 
choice, for he still says " forgive us our trespasses as we 
forgive those who trespass against us," although he heard 
during the same visit, " forgive us our debts as we forgive 
our debtors," and told me of it, asking me which I liked best. 

I just discovered that he has for some time thought 
the words " Jesus, Saviour, Son of God," in a little prayer 
he says, meant " Jesus, save your Son of God." He said, 
" Oh, it was the Son of God's Jesus, Saviour." First he 
asked what it meant, and that was how I discovered 
his error. 

November 29th. — When going up the Sixth Avenue 
Elevated one day recently he saw the girders, and was 
very much excited, as he was once before, when I told 
him what they were. He told me that he used to think 
they were derricks. I asked him how he found out his 
mistake. He said, " I think 3^ou told me girders were to 
hold up things. I know it by this time. I don't know 
how I found it out." Then he said, " See how the train 
curves slowly." 

A BEDTIME TALK 

"Doesn't w-o-l-d spell world?" (He was thinking of 
the sentence, " God so loved the world," which he had 

199 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

learned that day from a calendar, in his usual question- 
ing fashion of saying, " Mamma, what does that read ?") 

I said, " Isn't there a sound of r in world ?" 

H. "Oh yes; w-o-r-l-d, world; doesn't w-o-r-d spell 
word ?" 

I said, " Yes, and w-o-l-d spells wold — ■ a word not 
used very often, and I am not quite certain of its exact 
meaning." 

H. " Can't you tell me what you think it means ?" 

"Yes, but I will look it up and tell you to-morrow 
night. See how easy it is to learn a word every day, 
and soon you will know enough words to read." 

H. " I can read now a little. I can tell } T ou three 
wa} 7 s to spell too — t-w-o, t-o-o, and t-o." 

I said, " Can you tell me what they mean ?" 

H. " I don't know — oh yes, t-w-o means one, two, 
three. I don't know the others." 

Then I said, " Well, if you go to bed, will mamma go 
too?"- 

II. " Oh, too means that ?" 

I said, " Yes." Harold said then, " Now what is t-o ?" 
I said, "To bed?" 

H. "Oh, is that it? I can tell you something with- 
out the book." 

Then he repeated, " A, B, C went out to tea, D, E, F 
didn't feel very well," etc., to the end of the nursery 
rhyme. Then he said, " I can tell you something else : 
' Here's fun — a little fat piggy- wig trying to run.' 
Doesn't t-i-c spell something like tick ?" I said, " Y^es, 
and t-i-c-k spells it also." Then he said, " Is t-i-c tic of 
tic-a-toc?" I said, "Yes; and what sound makes toe? 
What sound is in God and dog?" (words he knew). He 
said " wait " (whispering d-o-g, t-o-c) ; then he said 

200 




1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 

A cnt and folding work-a kitchen with closet, a, and stove, b ; B, door and hinges ; C-c c c c 
parts for toy theatre— a, Devil's cave ; b, Satan ; c, giant's cave (note spelling); d, giant holding a 



SEVENTH YEAR 

"now" (as if he bad it), and began to spell, in great 
delight, " t-i-c tic, a, t-o-c toe," three times over. Then 
I said, " Now, dear, go to sleep, for I must write to finish 
this book for the publisher." He said, "Why?" at once. 
I replied, "It must be finished this week." He said, 
" Can't he write it himself ?" I said, " No. He didn't 
know how, so that was why I had to do it." " Can't 
you tell him how ?" I said, " That is what I am doing 
by writing it." 

H. "What is it about?" 

I replied, " About how to fix milk for babies " — think- 
ing to give him a familiar subject, for I was writing 
about Pasteurization. 

H. (expectantly). "Mr. " (mentioning the pub- 
lisher) " is going to send one to every mamma who has 
a sterilizer." 

I said, " Yes ; but how did you know it?" 

H. " Why, I know they sell sterilizers, and I know 
babies' milk must be sterilized, and I know what you 
are writing tells how to fix milk for babies, and it is for 

Mr. , so I think it must be the directions." (The 

last word he said in tones of triumph.) 

I said, " You have a busy little head." 

H. " Yes, and I told you this morning the plate was a 
picture of a baby's stomach." (He saw a cut of one in a 
medical book.) 

I said, " Yes ; go to sleep now, dear." 

IT. "Couldn't the pipes" (he always calls intestines 
pipes) " go straight, instead of being all around ?" 

I said, " No ; they are too long." 

He then asked, " How could I measure yours?" 

I said, " You couldn't unless I were dead and you 
would do like they do in hospitals, where they teach 

201 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

doctors how to help live people, by learning the parts of 
the body from dead bodies, that might as well be used 
as go to dust." (I gave the suggestive answer for the 
purpose of familiarizing him with the idea of the impor- 
tance of the soul and the indifference to be felt for the 
lifeless body, to which he has been carefully trained, 
and also for the purpose of doing away with any idea 
of cruelty he might gain in the future from indiscreet 
remarks about hospital-work that might inadvertently 
reach him. Many unnecessary things must be told to 
a child to prepare him for what he will inevitably meet, 
or he will be unfitted for the world as he will invari- 
ably find it.) 

H. " Do our bodies go to dust ?" 

I said, " Yes, after the ' think ' " (his idea of soul) " has 
gone to God. Don't you think they might as well ?" 

H. " Yes ; and do crabs go to dust too when they 
are dead?" (Probably thinking of their hard shells, 
with which he often plays.) 

I replied, inadvertently, " Yes — dust, gas, etc." 

H. " What is gas ?" 

" Something that you can smell." (A poor answer, 
but the best I could think of at the time.) " Everything 
goes into something else. God made the world so when 
he made Adam and Eve out of dust." 

H. "Who's that?" 

I replied, " Adam the first man and Eve the first 
woman. God made them out of dust — you know he can 
do anything if he sees fit — and put life into them. God 
made the world and tried to keep it good." 

H. " How can the dust go into something else ?" 

I replied, " By being the earth, to help wheat grow to 
be made into flour to make bread, etc." 

202 



SEVENTH YEAR 

H. "And then bodies can be made over into other 
bodies f" (Thinking of eating to make tissue, blood, etc., 
in which he has always been greatly interested.) 

I then said, " Good-night, dear. You have enough 
to think of now to go to sleep pleasantly," and he fell 
asleep in a few minutes. If indulged, this would be a 
daily, or rather a nightly, occurrence, or whenever the 
notion seizes him to begin asking questions, and it 
could be kept up for hours without apparently tiring 
the little fellow ; but effort, as a rule, is made to keep all 
suggestion from him that has a tendency to excite his 
brain. It is sufficiently perplexing to answer his ordi- 
nary questions, without giving him more food for 
thought. The above answers were more than usually 
suggestive, because he was wide-awake, and it was nec- 
essary to tire him a little to get him asleep quietly. 
We answer his questions truthfully but restrainingly — 
to keep physical poise. 

One night when ready for bed he begged for a 
romp. While jumping up and down on a spring-bed he 
began banging his beloved stuffed kitty — something very 
unusual, for he has always treated her with tenderness. 
I couldn't understand his action, but said nothing ; at 
last I heard him say to his nurse as he banged her again : 

" That's Jesus in the hard times of 1896 years ago." 
Then I remembered that in 1895 he had been told a 
story, during my absence, about Jesus and his crucifix- 
ion, his cruel treatment, and other unnecessary details 
that are beyond a child's comprehension and should 
never be told to them. He came to me for an explana- 
tion of the cruelty, and it took a long time for me to 
undo the impression that had been created. I did it at 
last by giving him a loving story of how God in his 

203 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

goodness sent Jesus, but he often said afterwards, when 
reverting to the story, that whenever he thought of 
Jesus it made him " so sad." 

When I asked him what he was doing to kitty, he 
said, " Banging kitty." Then I said, " Poor kitty !" He 
replied, " Well, wasn't Jesus banged by the wicked peo- 
ple ?" Then he suddenly changed and said, " Poor kitty !" 
petted and kissed her, and took her to bed with him. 

One clay he said, " Won't you tell me that story that 
you told me last year, about some one, I don't know 
whether it begins with a J or a G " (meaning Jesus), 
" but he is way up in heaven, you know ?" He has al- 
ways shown a great desire for any story about God or 
Jesus. 

Professor Barnes of Leland Stanford University di- 
rected attention some time last year to the value of 
records of different children's replies to the same set 
of questions, in regard to what certain words meant. I 
selected three boys of very different temperament and 
environment — playmates of Harold's — and asked each 
one, also Harold, the meaning of the same set of words, 
as follows — I did it in such a way that none of them 
knew what was being done. It took me several days 
to divide and ask the questions, in order not to arouse 
consciousness : 

e 's LIST 



A boy with a kind step -mother. He was a little 
over Harold's age : 
Arm-chair — Wood. 
Hat — Some are cloth. 
Garden — Vegetables. 
Mamma — A person. 

204 




1896 CUTTINGS — SIX TKARS OLD 



A, a, doll and dress ; B, fairy godmother in Cinderella toy theatre ; C, calendar made to slide 
up and down to show dates ; D, kindergarten weaving— materials made and colored by the child ; 
E, design by folding and cutting. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

Potatoes — Vegetables. 
Bottle — Glass. 
Flower — Something pretty. 
Snail — Little animal. 
Mouth — Something to chew with. 
Lamp — Something to make a light. 
Earthworm — Something to dig the earth. 
Shoes — Something to wear on your feet. 
Finger — Something to take hold of things with. 
Clock — Something to tell time. 
House — Something to live in. 
Wolf— Something to eat you up. 
Omnibus — Something to take your rides in. 
Piece of Sugar — Something to eat, put in tea or coffee. 
Thread — Something to sew with. 
Horse — Something to give you rides. 
Table — Something to eat off. 
Bird — Something to sing. 
Dog — Something to bark. 
Carriage — Something to ride in. 
Pencil — Something to write with. 
Balloon — Something to sail in the air. 
Village — Something to live in. 
Box — Something to put things in. 
Handkerchief — Something to blow your nose on. 



B 'S LIST 

Same age as Harold, but a very nervous child, and 
subject to very variable training : 
Arm-chair — To sit in. 
Hat — To wear on your head. 
Garden — To grow things in. 
Mamma — To whip the naughty boys. 

205 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

Potatoes — To eat. 

Bottle — To put medicine, water, or anything in. 

Flower — It looks pretty. 

Snail — I don't know — oh yes, I know now — oh no, I 
don't; oh, don't I forget quick! Oh, I got it again — to 
crawl up things. I got that. 

Mouth — To eat with. 

Lamp — To light. 

Earthworm — To crawl. 

Shoes — To wear. My ! these are easy lessons. 

Finger — To touch things with. 

Clock — To tell time. 

House — So people can live in it. 

Wolf — To bite people. 

Omnibus — To get a ride in. 

Piece of Sugar — To make milk and everything sweet. 

Thread — To sew. 

Horse — To take out riding with. 

Table — To stand things on. 

Bird— To fly. 

Dog — To bark. 

Carriage — For people to get in. 

Pencil — To write with. 

Balloon — To take people up in the air with. 

Village — So people can live in it. 

Lamb — To give you nice wool to wear. 

Handkerchief— To wipe your nose on. 

w 's LIST 

A year younger than Harold — His mother is dead : 

Arm-chair — To sit in. 

Hat — To put on. 

Garden — To make things grow. 

206 



SEVENTH YEAR 

Mamma — I donH know. 

Potatoes — To eat. 

Bottle — Put things in. 

Flower — To smell. 

Snail — To look at. 

Mouth — To eat out of. 

Lamp — To walk along with. 

Earthworm — To look at. 

Shoes— ^ To put on. 

Finger — To get a hold of things. 

Clock — To hear of. 

House — To live in. 

Wolf— I don't know what that is. I've heard of story- 
ones, but I've forgot. 

Omnibus — To get a ride in. 

Piece of Sugar — To put in things. 

Thread — To sew with. 

Horse — To pull you with. 

Table — To eat off of. Didn't I tell you that once ? 
(Yes.) Then why did you ask again ? 

Bird — Tell it was nice — to bite you. (He had an idea 
that a bird once tried to bite him.) 

Dog — To look at. 

Carriage — To sit in. I told you once. 

Pencil — To write. 

Balloon — To look at. 

Village — To look at. 

Box — To put things in. 

Handkerchief— To wipe your nose on. 

harold's list 
Arm-chair — Something to sit in, chair with place to 
put your arms on. 

207 



A STUDY OF A CUILD 

Hat — To put on your head. 

Garden — To plant things in. 

Mamma — Somebody to take care of you. 

Potatoes — Something to eat. 

Bottle — Something to put things in. 

Flower — Something to look pretty, smell nice, and to 
pick. 

Snail — To dig up the garden. 

Mouth — To eat with, talk with, open with to get 
things in to eat. 

Lamp — Something to make light. 

Earthworm — To dig up the earth, to make holes, to 
make flowers grow. I asked " How ?" He said, " Keeps 
the earth soft for them b}^ going through it." 

Shoes — To wear. Why? To keep your feet from 
treacling on tacks and everything. 

Finger — Something to point with — depends on which 
finger it is — to help pick up things. 

Clock — To tell you what time it is. 

House — To live in. Why ? So you can live. Couldn't 
you live in air? You have houses to keep you from 
all animals and things — to live in, sleep in, eat in. 

Wolf — Something tries to eat you, get after you ; kills 
goats, kills people. 

Omnibus — Something to carry you in. 

Piece of Sugar — Something to eat, to put in your 
coffee. Why ? To make it taste sweet. 

Thread — To sew with ; to make cloth with. 

Horse — To pull carriages and to ride in — to pull old 
wagons. 

Table — Something to eat from, to lay things on. 

Bird — Something that la}^s eggs and sings. 

Hog — Something that chases cats, barks, chases peo- 

208 




/7 Yo,!\ 



M L 1 



^js 






W 



EARLY CUTTINGS — TOOLS 




VARIOUS POSITIONS OF AN ENGINE 
BELL RINGING 



SPONTANEOUS WRITING FROM MEMORY 



Various 
memory. 



1YU7W f SlidjSrttl 

WRITTEN SPONTANEOUSLY FROM MEMORY, AFTER 
SIX WEEKS' STUDY AND PRACTICE 

positions of .an engine-bell ringing. 1896 cuttings, writing, and drawing from 
A sketch of "Tommy," which was drawn in 1897. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

pie away from houses, plays with you, shakes hands, and 
whatever you train him to do — does lots of things. 

Carriage — Something to take rides in. 

Pencil — To write. 

Balloon — To sail up in the air. 

Village — A little place to live in, a little kind of a 
street up in the mountains. 

Box — Something to put things in. 

Handkerchief — Something to wipe your nose with 
and to do lots of things. What? To keep in your 
pocket, and I don't know all of them. 

" The Haunted Castle " is a fairy story that he told 
me, so that little children could, as he said, understand it. 
He was six years old at the time. He selected the title, 
printed it, began to write, then said to me," You write 
the rest." He sat before me and told the story as fast 
as I could write it. It was just before his bedtime, 
when his brain seems always to be unusually active — 
an inherited characteristic that can be readily traced. 
His idea in trying to tell fairy stories is always to tell 
the stories he has heard in more simple language for his 
playmates, remembering how I must " read them down " 
to him. He would beg me to " say the meaning quick- 
ly " as I read along, so as not to interrupt his enjoy- 
ment of listening to an unbroken story. 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE 
PART I 

Once there was a king who had but one daughter, 
and there was a castle which ghosts lived in, and the 
o 209 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

king offered his only daughter in marriage to whoever 
would stay in the castle three nights ; and there was a 
house in the forest, and there was a youth there that 
wished very much to learn what it was to be afraid. 
One day he was walking along the street, saying, " Oh, 
how I wish I knew what it was to be afraid !" And a 
wagoner came by, and he heard the boy saying to him- 
self, " How I wish I knew what it was to be afraid !" 
So the wagoner (I suppose they might not know what a 
wagoner is, but they will ask their mamma, and she will 
tell them it is a man who drives a wagon — isn't that 
what it is ?) said to him, " Do you wish to learn to be 
afraid?" And he said, "If you want to learn to be 
afraid, come with me." So he took him and led him to a 
gallows, and said, " Stay here till midnight, and you'll soon 
learn to be afraid. The rope-maker has married seven 
men ; sit under this tree till midnight, and watch under 
it. You will soon learn to be afraid." So the boy said, 
" You come to me early to-morrow morning," and said, 
" You will get a fine cow that gives golden milk and 
golden butter," and then the wagoner left the boy. And 
then he sat down under the tree and waited till midnight, 
and he saw just at midnight six black dogs come running 
around the tree barking, and then each dog settled around 
him and could speak our talk. So then they had a good 
talk with him, and then there came afterwards two ugly 
black men with dirty eyes and crooked toes as crooked 
as a spring, and their ears went like cat's ears, and they 
had tails with points on them, and the seven black dogs 
jumped up at them ; one pulled out its tail, one pulled out 
its eyes, and one (how many black dogs did I say ?) 
pulled out his teeth, and one his tongue, and the other 
took care of the boy. In the morning the man came to 

210 



SEVENTH YEAR 

the boy and said, "Now I hope you have learned what 
it is to be afraid." The boy said nothing came but 
seven black dogs that could talk, and two men with 
pointed tails, cat's ears, and curly toes. So the man 
went off and didn't get the cow after all. So he went 
to a tower, and the landlord heard him say, " Oh, how 
I wish I knew what it was to be afraid !" and he said, 
" Go to the castle two blocks away, and there you will 
soon learn to be afraid." So he went to the king and 
said, " I will sleep in the castle for three nights," and 
the king said, " You may ask for three things without 
life to take with you." He said, " All I want is a turn- 
ing-lathe, a fire, and knife." So the king had these 
articles taken in at the day, so the youth went right in 
and slept in the castle. Just as the clock struck twelve 
he saw the devil, or Satan, coming in with a pitchfork 
in his hand, and the boy had a shield on or a armor. 
So when Satan went to hit him with the pitchfork it 
didn't hurt him. So he began to throw fire at the boy, 
and the iron only sent it back into his own face, which 
made him very angry, and he said, " Be off with you, 
boy !" And then the cock crowed and Satan vanished 
from his eyes. (Do you think they know what vanished 
is? It means disappeared.) Aren't you writing more 
than I say ? — you write so long. He asked this when I 
put in his interpolations. And then the king came and 
found him sitting on the floor by his fire. So then the 
boy went to go away, and then the next night he came 
and sat down again by his old fire, and just as the 
clock struck twelve he heard a rumbling, crumbling, 
squeaking noise in the corner of his room, and he saw 
a black cat coming with a little yellow dwarf on its 
back, and the yellow dwarf said, " I will do you no 

211 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

harm, but come every evening at ten o'clock while you 
are here, and keep ever} 7 thing away." And then he rode 
around the room six times on his black cat and then 
vanished. But the little yellow dwarf was telling 
stories. He wasn't coming every night. So then he 
fell asleep on the floor, and then the king came, and 
then he went away and came back to his old lire once 
more, and then seven little men came tumbling down 
the chimney with leg-bones in their hands and skulls 
for balls. They stood the leg-bones up for tenpins, and 
began to play tenpins. And then the boy said, " Can I 
play with you ?" and he said, " Yes, if you've got any 
money." And he said, " I've got money enough, but 
your balls are not round enough." So he took the skulls 
and put them in his turning-lathe until they were quite 
round, and " Now," he said, " they will roll better." 
Then he began to play with the funny little men ; so 
then the cock crew and they all vanished from his eyes. 
Then the king came for the last time and said, " I hope 
you have learned what it is to be afraid now," and he 
said, " I haven't learned such a thing." Then the king 
said, " Everybody that has come here has been killed by 
the ghosts, and you have lived, and you shall have my 
daughter in marriage." So he was not quite happy, 
because he did not know what it was to be afraid. So 
her chambermaid said, " I will help you out in this mat- 
ter if you give me a cup." So she went to the brook 
and filled the cup with water with little minnows in it 
(first he said gudgeon), and then she brought the cup up 
to the house and gave it to the king's daughter and said, 
" To-night when he is in bed you must throw this over 
him." So that night when the youth was sleeping she 
threw the water over him, and the little gudgeon wig- 

212 




1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS 

A. cut work— circus amphitheatre and box-office ; B— b, b, b, pussy's soldier set ; C, lighthouse ; 
D, eight different kinds of hats, with prices, for playing store ; E, mental pictures of kindergarten 
models ; F, f. large and small umbrella, half closed ; G, toad-stool ; H, house with screen doors - 
I, calendar ; J, compass ; K— k, k, k, parts of figure 2 for kineioscope. 



SEVENTH YEAR 

gled about. He awoke and said, " Oh, how I am afraid ! 
Oh, how I am afraid !" And then they lived happily 
all the time afterwards. 

The following story he told me at bedtime, without 
effort, as rapidly as it could be written, when he was 
six years and a half old. It is entirely original : 



THE SAILOR AND HIS MONKEY 

There was once upon a time a sailor who was work- 
ing on a ship, and he had a monkey that did all sorts of 
tricks. The monkey would stand on its head and turn 
a somersault and dance so high that you wouldn't know 
what he was doing. The monkey's name was Tommy, 
and the sailor was very fond of this funny, mischievous 
monkey. 

This was a very large ship, and they had an organ in 
the dining-room, and the monkey was tied to the organ. 
At every meal the sailor would come in with his mon- 
key, put a little cushion on the floor, and put the little 
monkey's clothes on. The clothes for the monkey were 
two little black shoes, a little hat, and a little coat with 
two little pockets in it ; and so the sailor would tie his 
monkey to the organ and begin to play. The monkey 
would run over to the little cushion and begin to dance 
all around the little cushion. It would dance, and in 
the middle of every tune that he played on the organ 
the monkey would turn a somersault, and at the end of 
every tune the monkey would take off his little hat, and 
then when everybody had finished their meals the sailor 
would stop playing on the organ. The monkey would 
get off of the cushion, take it up in its mouth, and bring 

213 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

it over to the sailor, and the sailor would unfasten the 
monkey from the organ, and then the monkey would 
jump up on the sailor's shoulder, and he would go out 
of the dining-room of the ship. One day when the 
sailor had finished playing on his organ they heard a 
loud noise — bang ! (he told me to " use " an exclamation 
mark) — right under the ship, and what do you suppose 
happened? — the ship shook like everything. So the sail- 
or and his monkey heard another noise — bang! so they 
heard that same noise bang ! again, three more times, 
and at the last time the ship went crang ! — right over on 
its side. So the sailor got a tub, put his monkey in it, 
and got in himself — a wash-tub. So he took two brooms 
and stuck them through the holes in the handles on the 
wash-tub and began using the brooms like oars, and the 
monkey and the sailor went spinning through the water ; 
but at last the tub tipped over and they went ploom ! — 
right down to the bottom of the sea, and said, " Oh, 
dear me !" 



CHAPTER VIII 

EIGHTH YEAR — EFFORTS AT ARITHMETIC -" A STORY 
ALL UPSIDEDOWN" AND "A WONDERFUL DREAM" 
TOLD BY THE CHILD— MEMORY- WORK— CONCEPTION 
OF FRACTIONS — EIGHTH -YEAR DEVELOPMENT IN 
DRAWING AND DESIGNING 

Apeil 23, 1897. — He said to his mother to-day: 
"Mamma, I am like a little tree growing: bad boys 
pull me over crooked, and you straighten me. If moth- 
ers didn't do this the boys couldn't grow straight when 
they get older, but would be crooked." He asked me 
repeatedly last night what I 
wanted, so he might pray 
for it for me. When I told 
him I intended going to sleep 
when he did, he said, " Oh, 
won't that be lovely !" 

April 24th. — To-day he 3 2-rJZ 
wanted to know what adding •AcSlT^' 
meant. I wrote some num- ,1 n . • 
bers (as shown in the accom- * v£l lll 5$7 
panying illustrations, a and b) ^W^Fft] 

and explained to him how to A LESS0N IN ADDITI0N - 

carry 1, by placing a figure 1 over the next column to 
the left when he had counted beyond 10, and put down 
the remaining number underneath the column he had 
just added. He needed but one telling, and the figures 

215 




i 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

underneath with the l's are his own. The illustration 
marked h is his own altogether. 

July 21st. — The illustration c is one of his efforts to 
understand the principle underlying addition, subtrac- 



6 

03 

/ » 

of 

m 








tion, multiplication, and division, after I had explained 
to him with the aid of the following figures : 



234 
234 



468 
234 

234 subtraction. 



468 addition. 

234 

2 

2) 468 multiplication. 
234 division. 
He experimented then for himself for a long time, 
using his own numbers, and using them correctly, as 
indicated : 




A LESSON AND ITS RESULT : EARLY ATTEMPTS AT 
SUBTRACTION, DIVISION, AND MULTIPLICATION. 

216 




1897 DRAWINGS— SEVEN YEARS OLD 

A. a, a. gobelinks ; P.. b, copy, with pen. from printed T ; C, c, line work from memory of kinder- 
garten lessons ; D, train on grade ; E, efforts at drawing a glass— the one not numbered was his 
copy ; F. engine and coupler— a, b ; G, plan for a school— d r, dining room ; p g playground ■ 
x x, theatre for amateur work ; b to b. bedrooms; H, plan for a comfortable Pullman car which 
be proposes to build when he is big—he still uses inverted letters ; I, mechanical work— plans for 
a locomotive he was trying to make. 







1897 DRAWINGS SEVEN TEARS OLD 



A. For a theatre. Note spelling of "directions." The child learned all his spelling from observa- 
tion or sound. He was never told when he spelled a word wrong, but if he asked how to spell a 
word, he was told correctly. 



EIGHTH YEAR 



I heard hini say to himself the other day : 



"This is the mighty dragon, 
His home is in a cave, 
And still he does not 
Know how to behave." 



February 23d. — The following original story was told 
very rapidly by the child, when seven, to his mother, just 
before going to sleep. He called it — 



A STORY ALL UPSIDEDOWN 
CHAPTER I 

Once upon a time, in olden days, they had men turned 
into monkeys, and fishes were turned into dragons, and 
elephants were turned into fishes, and people walked on 
the sky. All the rocks and stones and pebbles were 
alive, and everything was turned upsidedown — every- 
body walked on their hands, and curtains were turned 
into people's coats ; so there was a boy that wasn't 
changed into anything. 

CHAPTER II 

And this boy will tell you where he was. He was 
once living in a little cottage in a dark woods (wood — 
his correction) ; so one day he went out of his cottage, 
dressed up as a soldier, and locked up his cottage; so he 
went and walked and walked and walked until he came 
to a mountain, and he saw two little men fighting ; so he 
went up to them and said," What's that ring lying down 
there?" So they said, "That is a wishing-ring, and we 
are fighting to get it." So he went off about a quarter of 
a mile and stuck a spear into the ground, and then went 

217 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

back to them and said, " "Whoever gets that spear first 
shall have the ring." So off went the little men at full 
tilt, and he picked up the ring while they were running, 
and then called to them and said, "Now neither of you 
have got the ring ; I have got it myself." So he wished 
himself up at the top of the mountain he had come to, 
because he could not climb up it ; and when he was up 
at the top of the mountain he saw a man that had don- 
key's ears and a cat's tail, and crooked toes, as crooked 
as sprigs ; and so the funny man said to the soldier with 
the wishing-ring, " Now I will kill you." So they are 
fighting yet, I suppose. 

The following was told by Harold without a pause, 
September 17, 1897, when seven and a half years old: 



A WONDERFUL DREAM 

Once upon a time there was a little girl and a little 
boy who lived all alone in a tree, and somebody found 
them and took them home to his house and gave them 
a little room, and they got in bed and went to sleep, and 
at night-time the man came in and looked at them and 
said, " Those children look as if they were going to sleep 
nicely." And they went asleep so coseyly and slept so 
snug and warm that he didn't disturb them. And one 
night the children heard him saying in the other room, 
"If you are not out of this house by to-morrow morn- 
ing you will have to go away and live out in the woods." 
And they didn't hear him at first, and so they got up 
and got dressed and went down-stairs and took their 
fishing hook and line, and went out to fish. They found 

218 




1897 DRAWINGS 



A, Washington car on Fourteenth Street; B, disappearing cannon ; C, curved track; D. d, originn 
designs of track for his engine ; E, jail ; F, plan for first floor of a house. 




1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN TEARS OLD 



A, two boys on sleds going to the opening in the ground leading to the fairy's home under- 
neath ; a, chairs tor the king and queen of the fairies ; B, cut work for toy theatre. 




1897 AND 1898 DRAWINGS 



A, tents and war boats ; B, American flag ; C, "Spain getting licked," the child said— a, "U. S. 
shells hit"; b, "Spain shells have no force and fall to c"; D, memory work ; E, concept of 
fraction work ; F, writing from memory ; G, Disappearing cannon ; H, h, giant and the beanstalk. 



EIGHTH YEAR 

some clams lying along the side on the sand in their 
shells, and they found a nice new penknife lying in the 
grass, and they took that and opened the clam-shell, and 
put a piece of clam on their fishing-hook; they threw 
the line in, and by-and-by they had a great big fish on 
the end of their line, and they pulled and pulled and 
pulled and they couldn't get it up ; but at last they got 
it up, and then it was only a little bit of a fish about as 
big as a small alarm-clock. There it was on the line, and 
it began talking, and all of a sudden it jumped and went 
back into the water, and they went off and went asleep 
near a tree, and when they awoke they saw they were 
close by a deep pit, and all of a sudden it began to rain 
dirt right over the pit until the pit got filled up, and 
then they saw a beautiful fairy with a long train on 
her skirt, and a thousand little brownies were lifting it 
up in their hands, walking along behind her, a foot away 
from each other, and so they walked after the pretty 
fairy right straight up to the little girl and boy. The 
boy's name was Tommy, and the little girl's name was 
Jennie, and the fairy said, " Here's a ring," and she pulled 
two pieces of grass up out of the field (wood), and tied 
it together and touched it with her wand and said, 
" Here's a ring, Tommy, and here's a ring for you too, 
Jennie ;" and she said, " Just turn this ring around on 
your finger for what you want and you will have it im- 
mediately before you." And so Jennie and Tommy said 
" Thank you " to the fairy, and they wished for a house 
and things to eat in it, and they got it, and a river was 
in front of the house, about one-eighth of a mile away 
from it, and a little dock-place, with a naphtha-launch 
outside tied fast, and five cans of naphtha in a little room 
in the dock, and they got in this little naphtha-launch 

219 



A STUDY OF A CHILD 

and went sailing up and down, and at night a great big 
castle grew up out of a hole, and the naphtha-launch and 
everything burned up, and the little girl got awake and 
found herself in bed, and it was only a dream. 

The record above shows clearly how the child's spon- 
taneously developed self-activity is enlarging the boun- 
daries of his knowledge ; and the more he acquires, the 
greater is his desire for study. He is keen to observe, 
quick to comprehend, and has an excellent memory, 
which, with his indicated self-control, will make all fut- 
ure work easy. He shows no sign of physical strain ; 
he is only a romping, hearty, obedient boy, and full of 
fun, when not repressed by unsympathetic surround- 
ings ; and instead of thinking of lessons as a task, he is 
always more eager to learn than his parents are willing 
to have him taught. His mind is thus rapidly expand- 
ing without endangering his physical equilibrium. 



THE END 



AN EXTRAORDINARY TEST 



Miss Aiken's methods for cultivating powers of 
quick perception, attention, and memory are summed 
up by Dr. G-. Stanley Hall, President of Clark Uni- 
versity, as follows : 

" Wishing to test the exact extent to which attention 
and memory could be cultivated in children, and also 
in older students, I wrote a simple story containing 
one hundred items, and which could be read aloud in 
three minutes. This story I caused to be read by a 
stranger to the scholars in hundreds of schools — gram- 
mar and high schools, college-preparatory schools, col- 
leges, and universities — in this country and in England. 
The results have been tested by psychological experts, 
and Miss Aiken's school stands six per cent, letter than 
the oestP 



\ The simple methods employed by Miss Aiken are fully de- 
scribed in the following recent publication, which has already 
excited much interest in the educational world : 

METHODS OF MIND - TRAINING, CONCENTRATED 
ATTENTION AND MEMORY. By Catharine Aiken. 
pp. 110. Ten Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $1 00. 



HARPEE & BROTHEES, Publisheks, 
NEW YORK AND LONDON 



BOOKS FOE TEACHERS 



GENTLE MEASURES IN THE MANAGEMENT 
AND TRAINING OF THE YOUNG; or, the Prin- 
ciples on which a Firm Parental Authority may be 
Established and Maintained without Violence or An- 
ger, and the Right Development of the Moral and 
Mental Capacities be Promoted by Methods in Har- 
mony with the Structure and the Characteristics of 
the Juvenile Mind. By Jacob Abbott, pp. 330. Il- 
lustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25. 

THE TEACHER. Moral Influences Employed in the 
Instruction and Government of the Young. By 
Jacob Abbott, pp. 354. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, 

$1 00. 

AN EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION; also, the 

Ideas which Inspired It and were Inspired by It. 

By Maky R. Alling-Abeb. pp. x., 245. Post 8vo, 

Cloth, $1 25 ; by mail, $1 37. 

Ought to be in every teacher's library, and will be very soon in 
the libraries of multitudes of the best teachers. — Boston Advertiser. 

I am struck with the direct, straightforward, and fundamental 
hold which you have upon educational principles. — Professor John 
Dewey, University of Chicago. 

CHILDREN. Their Models and Critics. By Aueetta 

Roys Aldeich. pp. vi., 158. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. 

Chapters on the needs and best interests of children. An aid to 
consistent and successful character- building. 



Books for Teachers 

BLAIKIES HOW TO GET STRONG. How to Get 
Strong, and How to Stay So. By "William Blaikie. 
New Edition. Rewritten and Enlarged, pp. 510. 
Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth. 

BLAIKIE'S SOUND BODIES FOR OUR BOYS 
AND GIRLS. Sound Bodies for Our Boys and 
Girls. By William Blaikie, Author of " How to 
Get Strong, and How to Stay So." With Illustra- 
tions, pp. x., 168. 16mo, Cloth, 40 cents. 

THE TECHNIQUE OF REST. By Anna C. Beackett. 
pp. vi., 178. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. 

A protest against the feverish unrest of American men and 
women, but it wisely recognizes the fact that stagnation is not rest. 
Emphatically a book for tired women to read and profit by. — Phila- 
delphia Inquirer. 

WOMAN AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION. By 

Anna C. Beackett. pp. xii., 214. 16mo, Cloth, 

$1 00. {In Distaff Series.) 

This volume should be in the hands of every woman who is inter- 
ested in the young and their future. It would be difficult to commend 
it too highly. — N. T. Herald. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF 
EDUCATIONAL THEORIES. By Oscar Brown- 
ing, M.A., King's College, Cambridge England, pp. 
200. 16mo, Cloth, 50 cents. 

BUSINESS LIFE IN ANCIENT ROME. A Brief 
Description of the Markets, Streets, Industries, and 
Varied Commercial Interests of Rome at the Most 
Splendid Period of Its History. By C. G. Herber- 
mann, Ph.D., Professor of Latin in the College of 
the City of New York. pp. 74. Cloth, 30 cents. 



Books for Teachers 

HAM'S MANUAL TRAINING. Manual Training. 
The Solution of Social and Industrial Problems. By 
Charles H. Ham. pp. xxii., 404. Illustrated. 12mo, 
Cloth, $1 50. 

THE ELEMENTARY STUDY OF ENGLISH. By 

William J. Rolfe. pp. 86. Post 8vo, Cloth, 36 

cents ; by mail, 42 cents. 

The "Elementary Study of English" is a little manual of sixty 
pages, prepared by the author for the use of teachers. It contains 
portions of a paper entitled " The Grammar School Course in English," 
read before the Massachusetts State Teachers' Association ; hints for 
teachers on the use of "English Classics for School Reading," "Hints 
on Teaching History," and a brief essay on the English language. 
Teachers of English will find many valuable helps and suggestions in 
this little manual. 

OLD GREEK EDUCATION. By the Rev. J. P. 
Mahaffy, M.A., Fellow and Professor, Trinity Col- 
lege, Dublin ; Knight of the Order of the Saviour ; 
Author of "Social Life in Greece," "A History of 
Greek Literature, 1 ' " A Primer of Greek Antiquities," 
etc. pp. 144. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. 

FIRST PRINCIPLES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 
AND PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. By S. S. Randall, 
late Superintendent of Public Schools of the City of 
New York. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. 



Special Prices to Teachers. Catalogue of Educational 
Books on Application. 



HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers 
NEW YORK AND LONDON 



